


Stay

by shedreams0flove



Category: American Actor RPF, Norman Reedus - Fandom, The Walking Dead (TV), daryl dixon - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 19:22:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 158,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3300755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shedreams0flove/pseuds/shedreams0flove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannah has been alone for months, but somehow she's made it. But after discovering a school tucked into the northern hills of Georgia, she encounters a stranger who is just as damaged and broken as she is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Alone.

The thought and reality had taken it’s hold months before, rearing it’s ugly head and sinking it’s teeth in as Hannah struggled and fought her way through the ruins of Georgia. Images of nights fighting against the enemy, both dead and alive, flashed behind her eye lids with every blink. She sat on the edge of the roof of a high school, her feet dangling over the edge, the back of her heels hitting the brick as they swung back and forth. She reached up for the necklace dangling from her neck, it’s six charms growing heavier by the second as the memory of each of their owners flooded through her brain. She had taken them as they’d turned or had been killed, many of them she’d had to put down herself after injuries or disease had made them dangerous. A wedding ring, a small silver sagittarius charm, a tiny diamond pendant from another necklace, three dog tags. All of them painful reminders of the people she’d spent months of struggle with, people she’d cared about as much as she didn’t want to admit, one of whom she’d actually loved. The last one she’d had to kill with her own hands just three months back.

Alone.

No matter how much time had passed, the idea of having no one still struck her like a ton of bricks. The sun was falling lazily in the early evening hours, barely touching the tree tops along the horizon, their leafless branches cutting into the sky immediately west. But even as she tried to focus on the task at hand, trying to make the building she had gone through on her own a place to live with relative safety, the harsh reality of her isolation pressed even heavier on her shoulders.

Hannah sat there for another long moment as she gathered her thoughts and tucked them away, her eyes darting at the sudden rustle of leaves and branches just a few hundred yards past the trees. For a few long minutes, she sat completely still, her senses on edge as she watched the dark figure make it’s way toward the small parking lot at the back of the building. She pulled her legs around and dropped to her knees, crouching down below the short ledge of the building and slowly lifted her eyes enough to see back down toward the ground.

The figure grew closer until it reached the pavement and stopped. A man, Hannah noted as she watched, making sure she remained frozen in her place to avoid drawing his attention. His dark hair was long and fell into his face, covering most of his features as he reached his hand up to his temples and looked down. He took a sharp breath, his square shoulders slumping a moment later underneath his warn leather vest and old gray shirt. He dropped the crossbow he’d dragged behind him and let it fall to the asphalt where he stood, bringing his other hand to cover his face, his breath catching again in short sharp breaths.

“What the fuck, is he crying?” Hannah whispered to herself, looking around to the sides of the building to see if anyone had followed him. The area was silent and still, not even the wind had stirred. He was alone. Just like she was.

She tucked a few strands of her long dark blonde hair behind her ear and watched for another moment. Without even knowing who this man was, her heart broke as she watched him drop to the ground and slouched along the curb, his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands falling to his side. Forcing herself to push the emotions back into their place, Hannah crawled a few feet back toward the door on the roof and stood up, checking the view to make sure she wasn’t visible, and slipped back through the door without a sound. The halls of the school were silent and eerily undisturbed, everything still in it’s place. The silence was cut a moment later as she descended the stairs, the loud screech of metal on metal slicing through the halls as one of the outer doors had been opened.

“Shit.” She said quietly to herself as she slid through the door to the ground level, her hand falling to take her gun out of the holster pulled snug around her hips. Holding her gun in front of her, she made her way into the halls and listened for the footsteps of the stranger from outside. She came up to a crossway and tilted her head around corner, seeing the man standing just inside the school’s library, leaning against a book shelf as he read the titles in front of him, his crossbow hanging from his left shoulder.

“Drop the weapon and turn around.” Hannah said as she rushed up to the doorway, her voice harsh and cracked, feeling like gravel in her throat. He barely flinched before he turned his head to peer over his left shoulder, his features still obscured by his long dark hair although now she could see he was older than she’d originally thought. He stood still, not saying a word or moving a muscle as she waited behind him, gun pointed and ready.

“I said drop the fucking weapon and turn around.” She repeated, this time with more austerity. Hannah watched him slowly turn and set his crossbow on the carpet at his feet, studying his features now as he stood before her - his pronounced cheekbones, a small beauty mark tucked into the corner of his cheek, the short mustache and goatee a shade lighter than his shaggy dark hair falling into his eyes. He squinted as the last remaining rays of sunlight poured in through the window and directly into his eyes, tired and bright and blue, a small bag gathered below the right one, and the fading remnants of a black eye surrounding the other in various shades of yellow and green and gray.  
He had seen better days. Lord knew everyone had. But Jesus, he looked as if he could collapse at any moment and sleep for a month. The rims of his eyes were red and swollen, his lashes moist from whatever torment he had been reliving in his head outside. Hannah watched him for another moment and he looked down and he realized that she knew exactly what he’d been doing before this moment.

“You got a group?” She asked, relaxing her arm slightly, her finger moving slowly away from the trigger. He nodded quietly and watched her, giving away nothing.

“What about a name?” She pressed, trying unsuccessfully to lighten her tone.

“Does it matter?” He returned, raising his left hand slightly before he dropped it back down to his side. His voice was deep and gritty, like he’d spent too many years sucking on cigarettes, more than likely made worse by the stale ones she noticed tucked into the breast pocket on his shirt.

“Not to almost anyone out there.” She answered, attempting to read him, to somehow gauge what he might do or say. It, too, wasn’t working. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, waiting expectantly as he stood in front of her. He said nothing and rubbed at his temples again, leaning back against the counter behind him.

“I asked you a question.” She pressed, her hand tightening around her gun and moving up to point directly at his chest. He didn’t move or react.

“Daryl.” He said blandly, watching her carefully, his voice was low and sounded like grating gravel.

“Where’s your group?” Hannah continued, worried his answer would put her in a dangerous situation later on.

“Hold up about a mile that way.” Daryl answered, pointing to the north through the window behind him. The sun had fallen lower, casting the room in vivid shades of orange and yellow, the shadows of the trees outside stretched and obscured along the plain beige colored walls.

“So why are you here, then? Any more, it isn’t all that smart to go out without back up.”

“Needed a minute.” He said, his voice growing quiet, sniffing heavily at the reminder of what he’d come here to do. He reached into the pocket of his shirt, pulled out a cigarette and let it loosely between his lips. He pulled the whole pack out of his pocket and offered her one, lighting his with an old silver light he’d taken from his pocket. She nodded and lowered her gun, tucking it into the safety of it’s holster and took a step back.

“You alone?” Daryl asked, a long cloud of smoke pouring from his between his lips.

“No.” She answered, feeling the weight of her necklace around her neck.

“‘Cause it don’t look like you got a group.”

“Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean I don’t have one. They’re out there.” She paused, looking away and staring at the waning light outside, her hand absently reaching for her necklace. She turned back to look at him, crossing her arms across her stomach. “Dead and buried, but they’re out there.”

“So no.” Daryl pressed, watching as her fingers tightened around the pieces hanging from the thin chain around her neck.

“Last one died a few months back.” Hannah conceded, her voice softening just so. “Your group headed this way?

“Nah, north.”

“You looking for food or what?”

Daryl shook his head slightly and made a quiet ‘hm’ sound deep in his throat, looking back through the window to the sky that was now quickly turning to deeper shades of purple. He pushed himself to stand up straight and picked up his crossbow, moving toward Hannah and turning for the doorway behind her.

“They aren’t gonna come out this way and barge in in the middle of the night, right? They know you’re coming back?” Hannah asked, dropping her arms to her sides and turning towards him. Daryl paused for a moment in the doorway but only turned his head, looking down as he spoke.

“Nah, they ain’t comin’. They know I’m comin’ back.”

“You’re leaving now? It’s almost dark. That’s pretty stupid.” She said with a hint of sarcasm. He turned more toward her, his eye lashes catching at the hair that had fallen in his face as he looked at her closer now.

“Ain’t nothin’ I need here I can’t find somewhere else.” His voice was little more than a low growl, the gravel of it striking something deep and unknown in Hannah as she stood there, still and curious at the stranger standing in front of her.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah, well I can take care of myself.” Daryl said, defensive and cold. He pulled the strap of his crossbow over his shoulder and turned to leave again, an odd sense of panic suddenly crashing through Hannah’s veins, her arms reaching slightly forward before she stopped herself and crossed them across her stomach.

“You don’t have to go.” She blurted, unable to stop the words before it was too late. She blushed as he stopped and turned again, his expression a mix of annoyance and confusion. He said nothing.

“I just mean, it’s dark. And it’s been a while since I’ve actually talked to someone who could talk back.”

“Sure did’t seem like you were in a socializin’ sorta mood a minute ago.”

“Yeah, well you try roaming around the woods by yourself for 3 months and we’ll see how well you take to a stranger who took you by surprise.” Hannah joked, trying to soften her attitude. It’d been too long since she had last come across someone who was actually alive to talk to, thinking to herself how difficult it was to remember how to be human. “There’s a cafeteria downstairs. There’s a pantry if you’re hungry.” She offered, itching aimlessly at the back of her arm, hoping with an odd sense of attraction that he would take her up on it. Her stomach growled at the thought of food and she smiled lightly, pushing past him into the hallway and toward the stairs.

The cafeteria was nearly empty, the tables folded and lined up in neat rows along the southern wall, a few sheets of paper lay on the floor. It was strange, Hannah thought, seeing a clean and undisturbed building after so many months of moving from place to place, scavenging what food and necessities she could to get by. How a place like this could just be forgotten or skipped over was both a shock and a happy surprise as she’d found it earlier the previous morning. After carefully looking through every room, every closet and every possible corner of it, she’d found no one here, no walking corpses or people. Just a school that had been closed and locked after a normal school day as if there was never anything to panic over, or a care or worry in the world despite the ugly and violent turn that everyone’s lives had suddenly taken. Eery to imagine, but she wasn’t complaining. It was a nice reminder of how easy life used to be - painful, but nice.

Daryl’s footsteps followed softly behind her as she rounded the serving counter into the kitchen and pulled a long black crank-charged flashlight from the large heavy duffle bag she’d stashed under the register. The kitchen was sleek, clean and organized, running along the north side of the building with long windows high on the walls. Following along the long stainless counter top and toward a plain white door, she walked in for a moment and returned with a gallon sized can of peaches, letting it hit the counter with a loud bang.

“Dinner is served. I'm Hannah by the way.” She smiled, pulling out a knife and raising it just above the waiting can.

“Nah, wait.” Daryl interjected, setting his crossbow down to lean against the shelf below and turning toward the wall behind them and stepping away. He returned a second later with a hand can opener, quickly opening it while Hannah fetched two bowls and spoons from the sink area across the kitchen. She filled them to the brim, excited to finally have enough food to fill her stomach that she’d grown used to being empty. Loud clanks and bangs echoed from the main cafeteria, taking her by surprise as she shot her head up to see Daryl setting up a table and taking a seat.

She watched him for a moment, still unsure of how to deal with or read him. Maybe she’d been on her own for too long and being around others was just out of the cards for her. She couldn’t shake that she wanted to be a part of another group, but she also couldn’t shake the crippling terror of having to lose anyone else. It was obvious that it would happen. No matter how prepared she thought she could be, it always happened again. Death. Before the world went to shit it was a horrible thing that ate away at you from the inside, the desolation and the missing of the person lying lifeless in the ground was paralyzing. But now, death was so much more dangerous. It ate away from the outside, too, as mindless corpses reanimated in search of an insatiable appetite for the living. How anyone had survived this long was a miracle. How Hannah had done it alone was a flat out goddamned mystery. Hannah shook herself back to the harshness of reality and walked over to the table and took her seat.

“So you’re not worried they’ll leave without you?” Hannah asked, finally breaking the silence between them. Daryl looked up from his bowl and settled back, stretching his feet out in front of him underneath the table, the heavy sole of one of his old brown shoes knocking into her ankle. He mumbled a quiet apology before licking at one of his fingertips absently and met her eyes for a second before looking toward the windows.

“Nah, they ain’t goin’ nowhere. Not yet anyway.” He finally said, his voice softer than it was before.

“Why not?”

“I’m not there, for one. Told ‘em I’d be back by mornin’.” He paused and took a long breath. “We also got some other things to take care of.” He continued, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it, the heavy smoke flooding into Hannah’s lungs as he exhaled.

“Things like what?” She pressed, realizing she was probably striking his nerves again. His head dropped slightly as he looked into his lap, taking a long deep breath in and letting it out slowly, trying to keep his composure. There was something about Daryl that was hard to get. He was too many things at once, and it seemed as if he was having trouble knowing how to balance them. Too cautious, too quiet, too guarded, too hurt. The world was harsh and cruel and violent, eating away slowly at everyone, regardless of their fearless facade. She wanted to reach out to him and tell him she understood - whatever it was that was obviously tearing at him, she knew what it was to be broken. He was a stranger and probably dangerous under certain circumstances, but not here. Not in the dim light of a flashlight over a bowl of old canned peaches. No, here he was struggling. Here, he was purely human, and Hannah could see it.

“Just things. Gettin’ supplies.” He admitted a moment later, lifting his head and rolling the tension from his neck. Hannah watched him closely while she could. The sun had set completely, leaving the room cast in a dark purple haze as the light quickly waned. Realizing his real answer was too difficult for him to admit, she dropped the subject and picked herself up, took their dishes and left them at the counter, picking up her bag and leaving Daryl at the table as he finished his cigarette, waiting at the doorway.

“There’s a bunch of gym mats in the gymnasium. Found ‘em yesterday. Probably the best thing to sleep on in here.” She said plainly as he heaved himself from the bench of the table, retrieved his crossbow and met her at the doorway.

They fell into another bout of silence as they maneuvered through the halls, the soft sounds of footsteps echoing. Trophies and awards hung along the walls, photos of students beaming at their accomplishments plastered all over the bulletin boards as they passed into what looked like the science wing. Slowing her pace, Hannah paused at each door until she found a chemistry room, praying she’d find a set of fire starters.

“Never thought I’d willingly bust into a chemistry classroom.” She said quietly as she smiled to herself. Daryl stood just behind her as she opened the drawers, moving to the storage closet after finding nothing. She emerged a minute later with two metal hand held fire starters and handed one to Daryl, his callused hand grazing hers. Hannah’s skin reacted immediately, a chill sweeping over her that had nothing to do with the dropping temperature. She paused and held her breath for a second, testing out the starter she held, watching as the sparks lit in the short metal cylinder, casting the two of them in bright light for a split second. They each took a couple of textbooks from a desk next to the door and exited the room, heading for the gymnasium down the hall, the heavy click of the metal latch echoing across the wide open room.

The gym mats were stacked high along the back wall of the gym, other miscellaneous foam shapes used for God knows what were stacked neatly next to them.

“How many you want?” Hannah asked, her voice echoing toward Daryl as he stuck several hockey sticks inside the handles of the doors they’d come in.

“Don’t matter. Any’s better’n nothin’.” He said, walking to meet her again and leaning his crossbow along the back wall.

“True. I guess we’ll just split ‘em.” She noted as she counted the stack that was nearly as tall as she was. Daryl took several in his hand let them fall to the ground in a heavy thud, stacking them until the piles were even, sixteen and sixteen, and spread them a foot away from each other to make two separate beds. Hannah set the flashlight on it’s end, it’s bright beam shooting up towards the ceiling and catching on a silver air duct, casting enough light to see at least basic shapes and minor details.

“Probably ain’t any blankets or pillows around here, neither.” He said, disappointed, scratching the back of his head.

“I went through the whole place earlier and there’s some towels folded up in the locker room, I think.” Hannah said, more thinking out loud than anything and turning toward the open doorway into the women’s locker room. She emerged a few minutes later, arms overflowing with a mix of blue and white towels and a heavy gray blanket and dumped them on top of one of the makeshift beds, looking over to see Daryl tearing the pages of the textbooks into a short metal trashcan.

He left and returned a few minutes later, his arms full of scraps of wood from the wood shop down the hall, and dropped them with a loud series of bangs and clanks as they fell into the can before carefully arranging the odd shapes as well as he could, his third cigarette of the evening dangling loosely from his lips.

“You got any lighter fluid or booze or somethin’?” He asked, still trying to keep the wood together enough to stay burning for at least a few hours. Hannah caught herself staring as he stood up, shaking herself back to attention as she only caught his last few words.

“Booze? Yeah, uh…” She stammered, turning toward her bag on the ground a few feet away, pulling out a sizable bottle of whiskey she’d found a few weeks back hidden, of all place, in the lower desk drawer of a priest’s office.

“Damn.” He said, surprised, opening the nearly full bottle and pouring a few fingers worth before taking a long swallow and handing it back. The room was suddenly cast in a bright light as the wood caught fire, settling just enough to keep lit and put off heat. He took his seat on his pile of mats next to Hannah and took another swig, falling back to lay down before letting out a long yawn.

Hannah watched him from the corner of her eye, turning slightly toward Daryl and taking a long pull of the smooth, aged whiskey.

“You even old enough for that?” He asked, still lying on his back, his legs bent at the knee and dangling lazily off the edge.

“I’m 28, thanks.” Hannah said, playing defensive, full well knowing she had always looked young for her age.

“Coulda fooled me.” He returned, sitting up and taking the bottle back.

“What if I weren’t? Would you have called the police on me?”

“Nah. Shit, I was doin’ way more than just drinkin’ by that age.” He said, an odd mix of humor and disappointment in his tone.

“You and me both, I guess. I smoked a lot in high school. Even tried meth once.” Hannah admitted, shaking her head. “Worst decision ever. Couldn’t even touch cold medicine after that.”

“Well, I never dipped into that, but I had my fair share of pills before.”

“I quit it all after a friend overdosed on pills in college.” Hannah said quietly, resting the open bottle on her knee. The warm glow of intoxication flowing smoothly through her veins and relaxing her. She looked down to see the bottle half gone, feeling it in her cheeks as the world began to tilt. “Shit. I’m savin’ the rest of this.” She continued, handing the bottle to Daryl for one last swallow before twisting it’s cap closed and tucking it back into her bag.

She pulled off her jacket and laid back, adjusting a few towels behind her neck and looking over at the mysterious man that sat next to her. To no surprise, the booze had made her hungry for attention, the familiar twinge of desire pulling at her sensitive and neglected core as she lay there. It had been months since she’d had any real, physical contact with anyone, and being in the same room as someone who could give her what she desperately needed was only making it all the more agonizing.

Pulling herself up and standing, she pushed her mats to butt up against Daryl’s, his expression turning to one of mild surprise.

“I just know I’d fall right off in between these things if I didn’t push ‘em together.” She explained, letting out a shameless giggle. He watched her for another moment and cracked a slight smile, fidgeting with his hands before laying back. She stood for another minute, hardly able to control herself, gumption and need pushing her to climb up onto the bed and onto her knees, kneeling next to him as he laid there, his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head. She watched for moment, unsure of what to do from here.


	2. Chapter 2

All she could do was run. There weren’t any weapons, there was no place to hide, no one to protect her. Just the terrifying chase that she was always on the wrong end of. Her lungs were tight and pained as she gasped for breaths that were never enough and her legs moved heavily through the leaves, her feet catching on branches and throwing her to the ground. The enemy this time was not the dead. This time, the enemy was the living. His large callused hands catching her ankles and pulling her back, pinning her underneath his colossal weight and ripping at her clothes as she screamed. She forced her eyes shut as panic seared at every nerve, closing in around her throat, his rancid breath stung at her nostrils and his hands finding their way between her legs and … Darkness. She sucked in a desperate breath and her eyes shot open, catching nothing but darkness, the faint embers of the fire Daryl had started slowly becoming visible as her eyes adjusted. 

They always ended like this. Nightmares that tormented her night after night leaving her breathless and sweating, her skin always cold as ice. She sat straight up and heaved in several deep breaths, trying to relax the unforgiving tension in her shoulders and return her heart rate to normal. She looked around to get her bearings, leaning over to pick up the towels she had knocked off of her stack of mats during her agonizing dream. 

“You alright?” Daryl’s low, husky voice cut into the silence of the room, catching Hannah off guard. She took another deep breath. 

“Yeah.” She lied, hoping he couldn’t see her face as fresh hot tears stung the backs of her eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks. 

“Sure don’t seem like it.” He said, sitting up and pulling the old gray blanket up from ground. “Yellin’ and kickin’ like that. Got me right’n the ass.” 

Hannah turned to sit on the edge of her mats, giving into the sobs that shook her from deep in her core, unable to handle the weight of the what the world had turned into. The violence, the bullets, the knives, the corpses, the blood, the stench. The hopelessness. It was unbearable. She’d held on for too long and pushed the terrifying flashbacks and the emotions that went with them into a neat little box and shoved it to the back of her brain long ago and let it putrefy. The stinking and rotted memories boiling up and out of her in hot streams of uncontrollable tears and deep, desperate sobs. She doubled over and tried to catch her breath, unable to get any sense of composure as every thought and memory continued to consume her. She couldn’t keep any of it inside any longer, the images and terror of the world she lived in, the horrors she’d gone through with the man she thought she loved played over and over every time she closed her eyes, slowly killing everything that made her human. 

The warmth of Daryl’s hands on her shoulders made her jump, nearly knocking her off of the mats as he took her arms in his and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms tight around hers. Warm. Safe. 

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours as she slowly calmed down. But the tears still fell in slow, constant streams as she kicked herself for being unable to keep herself in check, and waking Daryl up at God knew what hour in the night. 

“I’m sorry.” Hannah whispered, her head hanging low as she took her head her hands. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Stop.” He returned, his hand rubbing along her arm. “Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry about.”

“No. I woke you up, I’m a mess. I kicked you." She said dolefully, motioning her arms at her entire body, trembling. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Stop.” He said, louder, turning her shoulders and making her look at him in the dim light. She took another moment to close her eyes and swallowed hard, wiping the tears from her cheeks before she let her head rest on Daryl's chest, his hand falling easily to her side. She could hear the rhythm of his heart beat, slow and steady, relaxed and at ease. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, hoping he'd let her stay there a while longer. 

Human connection was something she thought she could do without. Months of struggle on her own had made her cold and distrusting as she'd had to kill and re-kill, distancing herself from her actions, forcing herself to turn to stone and keep herself guarded. In the year and a half since all of this had started, she'd been chased, stabbed, and shot at. All things she could live with, but worst of all, she'd been betrayed, violated and abused by the man she'd grown to love as the world turned him into a different kind of monster. The kind that feeds on control and fear from those weaker than he was and never showed an ounce of mercy. Not even for Hannah who had always supported his decisions for their group, who had even killed for him - on multiple occasions. For weeks following the night she'd finally had the strength to put a bullet in his chest and blade through his brain, she'd been fine. But as the days slowly passed and she wandered on her own, the nightmares started and tore her to shreds every time she tried to sleep, waking in fits of cold sweats and tears, never able to shake the weakness that sat just below the surface. Tonight was like all the rest. But this time, she didn't have to endure it alone. Tonight, for the first time in months, someone was here to hold her through it. Even being a stranger, it was better to have someone than to have to no one. 

Hannah lifted her head slightly to look up at the details of Daryl's face as they sat there in the gymnasium, her arms wrapped loosely around his torso. The wood pieces cracked and settled, a brighter flame blooming from the untouched ends now burning bright. She could see in his face he'd seen too many horrible sights, his expression tired and weathered as he looked back at her. 

"Thank you." She said softly, her hand moving to rest on his chest, her other arm giving him a warm squeeze. He nodded and looked down, but pulled away a second later, crossing his legs, letting his arms fall to rest in front of him. 

"We all got our moments." He returned, rubbing his hands together slowly in his lap. Hannah let her hand move to rest on his arm and looked at him, hoping he'd meet her gaze on his own. When he didn't, she reached up and took his cheek in her hand and turned him toward her, leaning in close. A fresh sheen of tears rose and teetered on her lashes. 

"Seriously. I can't tell you how much I just needed someone here." She said, gratefully. She looked at him for a few seconds, watching his expression soften and some of the tension in his shoulders relax. A warmth took hold in her chest as he finally met her eyes with his, the flicker of the fire behind her catching in his eyes. She gave a weak smile and before she could convince herself otherwise, she leaned forward, her lips meeting his in the kind of kiss she hadn't had in any recent memory. He hesitated at first, but as she combed her fingers along the tender skin of his neck, he gave in, opening his lips to her, their tongues tangling slowly, sweetly.

Without losing touch, Hannah shifted her weight and pushed him back, his head resting on her small stack of towels as she moved to straddle him. Daryl's hands moved up along her rib cage and back down to pull at the hem of the old gray v-neck shirt, pulling it up over her head and tossing it to the floor. Hannah sat up straight and let her hands run down his chest, tugging at the buttons of his shirt. He tore her hands away and sat up, pulling his vest and shirt off in a quick, impatient pull and taking her hips in his hands. Daryl took her weight in his arms and turned her over on her back, standing over her and pulling desperately at the buckle of her belt, the clinks of metal ringing loudly as it struck the hard wood floor with her jeans. Within seconds, his old worn shoes were kicked to the side and his pants were in a pile at his feet. Hannah’s breath caught as she laid there under him, his thick, muscular arms on either side of her as he dipped his head to the plant his lips on her breast. She ran her hands along the smooth skin of his ribs and pulled him closer, their skin nearly touching. 

Daryl lifted his head, looked at her and pulled at the strap of her bra, letting it fall to the side before tugging it down and taking her nipple between his lips. His tongue teased her, circling the delicate flesh of her breast while his hand found it’s way between her legs, sending ripples of hot excitement coursing through every fiber of her body. She opened her legs to him and lifted her hips, letting him pull at her panties and drop them to the floor before turning his full attention to the tender, aching flesh of her core. Hannah arched her back as his tongue moved along her delicate folds and his fingers tested her entrance, moving slowly at first as her body rolled to the rhythm of his slow, velvety licks. He worked his way up to her clit, sucking and playing with it lightly between his teeth, her breath escaping in quick, eager breaths as she teetered on the edge. 

A moan escaped from Hannah’s throat as he suddenly pulled away, leaving her open and vulnerable, the chill of the air striking her as she waited for him to come back to her. She watched him pull off his boxer briefs and toss them to the floor, his erection hungry and ready for her. She pulled herself up and got on her knees, taking his wrist in her hand and guiding him to lay in front of her before taking all of him in her hands. Daryl sucked in a quick breath as she wrapped her lips around him, moving along him and sucking, using her tongue to tease his tip and her hands to massage his tender sac. A deep, gritty sound escaped from him as Hannah’s head moved in his lap, his hand falling to the curve at the back of her head and taking a handful of hair between his fingers. 

She pulled away from him and took her bra off, dropping it to the floor as Daryl’s hand ran up her ribs and took her breast in his hand, leaning up to meet his lips with hers. He got up and stood in front of her, taking her by the hips and laying her on her back, pulling her to the edge of the mats before leaning down to give her waiting flesh a quick tease with his tongue. Hannah let out a light moan and looked up at him, his eyes hungry and his chest heaving as he stood over her, a slight mischievous smile pulling at one of his mouth. 

“Jesus fucking Christ. Come on.” She cried, pulling her knees up toward her chest and reaching down to touch herself, desperate for him to touch her. He just stood and watched her, holding himself just shy of her slick entrance. Hannah reached up and took the back of Daryl’s neck in her hand, pulling him down to lean over her, pushing her lips hungrily onto his and tugging playfully on his lower lip. 

“Fuck me like you mean it.” She whispered, their noses nearly touching, his eyes never leaving hers. Daryl lifted her at her waist and moved her further onto the mats, getting onto his knees and holding his tip at her entrance. She took in a short breath and held it, feeling every inch of him move inside of her. He took her hips in his hands and thrust in to her, the pumps of his hips as hard and desperate as the low, gritty sounds coming from deep in his throat. Hannah’s hands fell to rest on the sides of his hips, his skin smooth and his muscles taught beneath her fingers as he moved. 

A fresh sheen of sweat started to bead on Daryl’s forehead as he pushed into her and leaned over, planting his hands onto either side of her arms. She reached up and ran her hands through his hair, pulling him close to meet her lips with his. The heat and swell of arousal pulled at her every muscle, flushing her chest and moving up to her cheeks. Daryl pulled himself out of her and took her hips in his hands, pulling her up and turning her over onto her knees. The skin of her back was smooth underneath his fingers as he ran his hand up her spine and holding onto her shoulder, her skin electric from his touch. Hannah reached back and pulled his hand to take her breast as he pushed himself back into her, every last inch of him stretching her as she flexed and tightened herself around him. Still leaning over her, his lips found the sensitive skin behind her ear, leaving hot wet kisses along her skin. 

“Shit, girl. Don’t stop that.” He said quietly into her ear, his breath hot on her skin. His low husky voice made every muscle in her body melt, his quickening thrusts throwing her further into an abyss she’d long needed the escape to. Daryl moved one of his legs up, giving him more leverage to thrust harder and deeper into her, a raspy moan escaping from his throat. The two of them moaned and breathed together, their crescendo building and echoing through the cavernous gymnasium. 

“Top.” Daryl croaked as he pulled out of her, giving her ass a playful squeeze and laying down, resting his head on a pile of towels. Hannah climbed on top of him, guiding him back into her in an easy, fluid movement and taking his hands in hers. She pulled his arms up and over his head and lacing her fingers with his. Her breasts grazed along his chest and she breathed heavily into the skin of his neck, placing soft, hot kisses along his skin. Daryl pulled up his knees beneath her and brought both of his arms to her hips before guiding his fingers down to her tight bud of nerves between her legs. 

“Oh, fuck.” She whispered into the skin of his neck, the tight pull of her climax edging closer and closer. She leaned up slightly and brought her hands to run through his hair as he took her nipple between his lips, teasing and sucking once again as she rocked her hips on top of him. The incredible waves of blinding ecstasy thundered through her and she called out his name, falling to him as he began to thrust harder underneath, blinding her as she lost her ability to do anything but quiver. She lost every thought, forgot how to breath and felt nothing but the electricity coming from the contact she was making with him. The feel of his hair between her fingers, the pressure of his fingertips on her hips, the velvety bliss of every inch of him moving and growing harder inside of her. Daryl’s breath quickened and grew more and more desperate as he twitched beneath her, his muscles becoming taught against her skin. 

“Shit. I’m comin’.” He said lustfully between his teeth as he pulled himself from her soaking flesh. She quickly knelt down and took him in her mouth, moving along him in fast, slick movements. 

“OH FUCK.” Daryl called out, his breath catching in his lungs as the sweet nectar of his orgasm filled Hannah’s mouth, falling in slow rivulets down to her fingers. She sat up next to him and took one of the towels from his side of the mats and wiped off her hands, feeling Daryl’s hand move along the smooth skin of her back, sending chills across her skin again. She tossed the towel to the ground and laid down next to him, resting her head on his chest and feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders, the ease of the rhythm of his heartbeat lulling her closer to sleep. His fingertips caressed the skin on her arms as she slowly faded, and for the first time in countless months, her rest was peaceful.


	3. Chapter 3

“Daryl?” Hannah called out as she woke. Nothing. No sound, no movement. Pulling herself to her feet and quickly pulling on her clothes, she moved across the gym and through the doors.

“Daryl?”

Still there was no response as she walked through the halls, checking in each room as she passed. The cafeteria was empty, their bowls from the previous night untouched and the can of peaches still half full.

“Well that’s fucking rude.” Hannah murmured to herself as she turned around, disappointed that he didn’t even give her the chance to thank him for everything he’d done. She made her way back to the gym, stopping along the way and gathering various supplies, the latches for each door ringing loudly through the silent halls. He was gone now, and she was alone again. The school was a thousand times bigger, the gymnasium even emptier, she felt even smaller. She let herself back into the gym and replaced the hockey sticks, leaning against the closed doors behind her and falling to the ground as the weight of her world collapsed around her.

Alone. Once again. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that he’d left. But the sting of it was still very real and it hurt in ways she hadn’t expected. She could still feel the pressure of his fingertips along her skin, the want and need for his company growing as she pressed her fingers to her lips. Hannah picked herself up and carried her supplies over to the bed they’d made, sat down and took a deep breath, unsure of what to do with herself.

A faint sound resembling a whisper suddenly cut through the silence. It was barely audible, but Hannah’s senses shot to attention and she held perfectly still. Hoping it was him, expecting it not to be, Hannah got up and grabbed her knife, the muffled sound catching her ear as she entered the men’s locker room.

The light was dim, the dark blue lockers casting long shadows across the cold concrete floor from the frosted windows along the back wall, she heard the sound again as she moved cautiously. She rounded the last corner and stopped, turning toward Daryl as he sat hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees and his head hanging in his hands.

“Daryl.” Hannah whispered, moving slowly toward him. He shook his head at the sound of her voice and her heart broke. She eased herself down next to him, making sure she wasn’t too close and he dropped his head, lacing his fingers together behind his head as she let her hand rest on his back.

“Daryl.” She finally said, running her fingers along the warn fabric of the dirty angel wings on the back of his vest. She scooted closer to him and let her other hand rest in the curve of his forearm. “Look at me. Please.”

Daryl stood up quickly and moved a few steps away, reaching out to lean against the gray cinderblock wall.

“Hey.” Hannah said, her voice soft yet serious. She could see his shoulders tense at his inner torment, whatever it was. She stood up and walked over to him, her hands resting on smooth skin of his arms, feeling his muscles tense up at her touch. Realizing he wasn’t going to cooperate, she switched gears and let her tone take more serious turn. “Turn the fuck around and look at me, would you?”

This time, he obliged, leaning back against the wall but still hanging his head down, his long hair blocking her view. She took his chin and turned his face to look at hers, immediately knowing exactly what he needed. Her face softened as she watched tears silently roll down his cheeks, his eyes bloodshot and his nose bright red. Hannah stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him, letting him rest his head in the smooth curve of her neck. The flood gates opened and she felt him lose himself, his breaths quick and caught as he sobbed silently in her arms. Her hand reached up and held the back of his head, stroking his hair while the other moved slowly up along his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time, each of them leaning on the other as he tried to pull himself together. Hannah pulled away only enough to take his cheek in her hand and look at him, he soft blue eyes woeful and devastated.

“Tell me.” Hannah said, simply.

“I…” He stammered, his voice cracking. “I lost her and it’s my fault.”

Hannah pulled him to her again and held him.

“Don’t do this to yourself.” She whispered, leaving a soft kiss behind his ear. “It won’t fix anything.”

“I lost her.” Daryl repeated, his forehead resting on her shoulder. “She was just gone. Then I found her, and then they killed her.”

Hannah’s heart broke again and tears stung at the backs of her eyes, spilling over her lashes at the guilt eating away at the man falling apart in her arms. She pressed her lips behind his ear again and pulled his face to hers, their foreheads leaning against one another’s.

“Tell me.” Daryl said, his voice low. Hannah stared at him for a second, another wave of hot tears falling as she looked down at the ground. “Tell me.” He repeated, softly as his hand fell to rest on her hip.

She took a deep, trembling breath, her throat growing tight at the painful memories of everything she’d done for the monster she’d thought she had loved.

“I loved him. Or thought I did. Killed for him. Then he turned into something far more dangerous than any of those things outside. Laid his hands and forced himself onto me and I killed him. Put a bullet in his heart and a blade in his brain.” Hannah conceded, her voice weak and shaking. Daryl pulled her close and held her, burying his face into the curve of her neck again and pressing his lips against her skin.

They stayed like that for another long while, both crying for completely different reasons, but they were together in this. Hoping that somehow, the others’ pain could help them overcome their own. Hannah lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him, the rims of his eyes red and swollen just as they were when they’d met but they were still beautiful. Soft, knowing, and broken.

“Jesus, what a goddamned mess.” Hannah croaked, giving out a small laugh and wiping the tears away from her cheeks. She could still feel the warmth of Daryl’s hand along her hip, his fingertips pressing just like they had the night before. The familiar stir of arousal whirled inside and she leaned forward, her lips settling perfectly against his. This time, he didn’t hesitate. 

He’d been waiting for this, she could feel how ready he was for her as he pressed himself against her body, a deep moan escaping from his throat as they kissed.

Their clothes were off in mere seconds, their hands excited and desperate as they ripped at each other’s clothes and threw them to the floor. Daryl’s arms wrapped around Hannah’s waist and took her weight, letting her wrap her lean legs around his hips. He carried her to the long, worn wood bench and sat down, her ass fitting perfectly in his lap. She could feel his hungry length underneath her and rolled her hips against him, his skin soft and electrifying against hers. He buried his head between her breasts and his tongue found her nipple, playing and teasing with it as she let out a couple of quick, desperate breaths.

She laced her fingers through his hair as his hand ventured between them, finding her sensitive bud and pressing into it, moving in tight, controlled circles and driving her senses wild. Her chest flushed with heat and she pulled his face up to look at hers, her lips finding his and running her hands along his ribs. Hannah shifted herself and took him in her hands, guiding him to her entrance and letting him fill her completely, perfectly. He let out a long, quiet moan as she started to move, her delicious walls flexing and tightening around him.

The two moved in unison, their rhythm speeding up and slowing down as the highs and lows of their friction pushed them to heights they could only reach with this kind of connection. Breathless and drunk with one another, the sense of time was lost and they faded in and out of mindlessness.

“Daryl, I-“ Hannah breathed, her voice trembling and desperate. “Fuck, make me come.”

She wrapped her arms tight around him as he bucked underneath her, his hand holding tight to her hips and his chest heaving. Hannah sucked in a raspy breath, hardly able to hold onto any kind of thought other than the insatiable need to make him come with her.

“Shit.” He breathed. “Hannah. Oh shit. I’m gonna come.”

“Come with me.” She whispered in his ear, tugging lightly on his earlobe with her teeth.

He looked up and met her gaze, pulling her lips to his as a long breath escaped him. Her walls pulsated around him, pushing both of them into a thoughtless, breathless and perfect tailspin. But as the heavy wave of blinding euphoria swept over them and their breaths caught with one another’s, a loud crash came from deep within the school’s halls, jerking them both to attention and deserting their still rippling waves of release.

“Oh, what the fuck?” Hannah breathed, her chest heaving and flushed. She tried to lean over and see around the locker but Daryl stopped her, pulling her lips back to his.

“Daryl, we need to-” She tried to break away, but he kept her close, interrupting her with his irresistible taste. “We need to get dressed. Oh my god.” Hannah breathed, feeling him twitch inside of her, sending waves of excitement across her skin. He reached between them and found her clit again, circling around it slowly and building speed, taking her breath away and sending white hot waves thundering through her body.

“Oh, fuck!” She quivered into him, her walls still tight and wet around him as they sat on the old locker room bench. Hannah tried catching her breath, but the grips of her release kept her weak, unable to resist rolling her hips on top of him, driving them both to fall into another mind-numbing catharsis.

Hannah took a moment to catch her breath, her skin still flushed and hot and her knees still weak and trembling. She pulled herself from his lap and knelt in front of him, taking all of him in her mouth and slowly working him with her tongue, the sweet taste of sex filling her mouth. Daryl let out a long breath and watched her stand up, pulling her closer to him and pressed his lips to the soft skin of her stomach. His fingers moved gently along the wet, delicate flesh between her legs, teasing and delicious and hard to resist. She let her hands fall to his shoulders as she heard more sound come from far off in the halls of the school, growing worried that they could be putting themselves in danger with each passing second.

“Seriously.” Hannah said, bending down and kissing the top of his head. “We need to go check that out. You said your group was expecting you by now. What if they came looking for you?” Daryl looked up and met her eyes, giving her a slight nod in agreement as he pulled himself up.

They helped each other dress and left the locker room, their demeanor shifting to protect one another as they grabbed their weapons and crossed the open gymnasium.

The distant sound of voices and footsteps echoed through the hallways, the hair on the back of Hannah’s neck standing on end, her eyes tuned to any minor movement.

“I think they’re downstairs.” Daryl said, his voice a low growl.

“Probably raiding the cafeteria.” Hannah added as they rounded the corner and descended the stairs.

The doors to the cafeteria stood wide open as Hannah followed Daryl silently past the threshold, the sound of footsteps shuffling along the old tile floor coming from the pantry and the quiet muffle of voices coming from another end of the school. Hannah’s pulse pounded in her ears and her hands shook, her gun pointing directly in front of her, ready to fire at anyone stupid enough to make a move. Daryl signaled Hannah to stay where she was and moved forward, suddenly easing his crossbow down and relaxing his shoulders.

“What the hell, I told you I’d be back.” He said, his tone louder than she’d heard him before.

“We had to come look fer you. We need to head out.” The gruff voice of another man came from the back pantry, his accent thick and southern. Hannah dropped her gun and tucked herself behind a column, her heart torn at the idea of Daryl leaving.

“I was gonna head back in a bit. Time is it, anyway?” Daryl said, stepping closer to the pantry. The two men spoke for a few minutes, but Hannah didn’t listen. She didn’t want to, the harsh reminder that he’d soon be gone harder for her to handle than she cared to admit. She took a deep breath and tried to reign herself in, closing her eyes. The feelings were too new, too misunderstood. He was still a stranger, but she couldn’t shake wanting him to just stay with her. He had a group that he probably considered family and she was just some girl he found by accident. She pushed herself off of the column and turned to leave, catching a look from Daryl as she tried to exit without him noticing.

“Where you goin’?” He called out. The man he’d been talking to stepped forward and into sight, watching her. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide and her limbs frozen like a deer stuck in headlights.

“Uh, I was just… uh.”

The two men stood and stared, waiting for a real answer that they weren’t going to get, Hannah’s eyes falling to the floor.

“You got any ammo in that thing?” The other man said, taking an easy step forward and leaning against the counter.

“My last four.” Hannah admitted, looking back up and at Daryl. He gave her an easy nod and she relaxed, looking over at his friend.

“Rick Grimes.” He said at last, offering his hand.

“Hannah.” Hannah reluctantly took his hand as she looked from one man to the other.

“Daryl tells me you don’t have a group. How long's it been?”

"Few months."

The three of them stood there in silence for what seemed like a lifetime, both men watching Hannah as she fidgeted with the ragged hem of her old jean jacket. She looked up and met Daryl's watchful gaze, the corner of his mouth curling into the slightest smile before Rick spoke.

"You can come with us if you want. We got people. Pantry here's got some cans of stuff that'll keep us fed for a little while. It'll be tight in the vehicles, but you're welcome."

"I couldn't ask you to do that. This place is safe. I can make it on my own." She said, her voice small.

"With four bullets?"

Hannah gave him a blank look, unsure of where to go from here. Heaven knew she was in no shape to put anyone else through having to deal with the night terrors that plagued her. It was bad enough she'd done it to Daryl - but an entire group in close quarters? She was tired of being alone, but the guilt of his group having to drag her along was almost too much for her to handle. She was strong enough to survive on her own, but the challenge didn't lie with fighting during the daylight. The real challenge came when she closed her eyes at night and the demons clawed their way out.

Hannah turned her back to them and slumped her shoulders, taking her face in her hands and taking a deep breath. Fresh hot tears burning at the back of her eyes as she struggled to compose herself. Daryl's hand once again startled her as he took her shoulder in his hand and wrapped his arm around her. Giving in, she rest her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

"You shouldn't do this alone." He said quietly.

"Daryl's right. We're headed north. You oughta come. It might be good for you to get outta familiar territory." Rick said, stepping into view, tapping his index finger on his temple. "I think we all know makin' it out there is easier when you have other people to struggle with."

Daryl let his arm fall and his hand trail along her spine, taking a small step away. Rick took her arm in his warm hand and looked at her, his blue eyes clear and focused.

"Truth is, you can never have too many people lookin' out fer you. You'll be helpin' us as much as we help you." He said earnestly. She watched him for a moment as he took a step back and let his hand rest on his own hip.

"What's up north?" Hannah asked, still hesitant on taking them up on their offer.

"Honestly, we don't know just yet. Washington was the goal and that's where we intend to stop first."

A voiced called down to Rick from the stairwell and he gave Hannah a small knowing smile, making his exit and leaving her with Daryl who still stood close behind her. His hand ran smoothly up her back to rest warmly at the curve of her neck, her skin immediately reacting to the warmth of his. She turned to look at him, her expression like stone.

"You told him about last night?"

"What, you think I'm gonna just let you go through that on your own now?"

"I don't need to be taken care of."

"Sure didn't have a problem with it last night. Or earlier." Daryl hissed, taking a step back from her and pacing. Hannah took a deep breath and raised her hand to her temple, closing her eyes at the kind of argument she had never imagined herself having. The idea that she needed anyone after all of this time on her own was a bitter pill she didn't want to swallow, but one that needed to be if she wanted to live to see another day. She was too tired to fight on her own anymore and here he was, giving her the opportunity to not have to. Resigned, she dropped her hand and looked at him, letting out a long sigh.

"Ok. I get it. You guys are right. I'm sorry." She said, defeated, too exhausted to try and argue with him. Daryl's shoulders relaxed and he stopped pacing, turning to look at her.

"You know, you were the one who said it was stupid to go out alone. You think I'm about to let you do somethin' like that?"

"Daryl. I get it." Hannah said, her voice short. It wasn't that she was angry or upset with him. It was difficult to have to admit that he was right - or that she needed someone else. Not necessarily to stay alive, but to feel that way. It had never been easy for her to rely on others- even with her group before, she was independent and strong. She just happened to fall for someone and took his word further than she should have.

"Alright, well, get your shit." He said, softening his tone and giving her a nod toward the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

It’d been longer than Hannah could remember since she'd last been in a car - she’d probably been in more of them in two weeks with Daryl’s group than she had been since everything had changed. She’d had to walk or run everywhere she went for the past six months at the very least - possibly longer - and her feet were thankful for the break. The previous twelve days had creeped along as they drove and stopped, found another vehicle or fuel and then drove some more. The group had been less than enthusiastic about Hannah’s introduction but regardless of how new she was, they seemed to have taken to her well enough. Thankful to be in a group, she counted what she could consider blessings and followed along, keeping to herself and doing whatever was needed to pull her own weight.

Hannah closed her eyes and let her head fall back to lean on the wall of the old covered truck bed, the sounds of old crackling leaves muffled outside of the windows. A sudden weight sat on her lap and she opened her eyes to see Daryl laying his head on her thigh, his eyes closed and crossbow leaning lazily against his legs. It’d been several days since he’d come to her for anything, let alone making any sort of physical contact, and his unexpected attention caught her off-guard. Taking it in stride, Hannah combed her fingers through his hair slowly as one of his hands came to rest in the warmth between her legs and he laced his fingers with hers. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, biting at one of his nails.

“Who was the guy?” He asked softly.

“Who?” Hannah returned.

“The guy. The one you told me about?”

“Oh.” The sudden stir of the memory turned her blood to ice and she winced. “Uh. His name was Jason.”

Daryl’s fingers squeezed Hannah’s enough to show her he was really listening, that he was only trying to understand rather than disturb the delicate composure she operated on.

“You kill him right when he did it?”

“Uh. Well… yeah, right after.”

“Good.” He said. Hannah looked away and rested her head again, hoping Daryl wouldn't see that even the simplest question got to her. "I'd kill him again if I could. Bullshit what he did." He added, chewing on one of his thumbnails.

"Yeah, it was." Hannah said, her voice shallow as she pushed away the painful flashbacks. She let her other hand fall to rest on his arm, her thumb running along his smooth skin before she swallowed hard.

"What about the girl you were talking about? What happened to her?" She asked carefully. He looked up at her for a second and then over to the young woman he’d introduced as Maggie before laying his head back down, his thumb never leaving his lips and his expression somber.

“Her name was Beth. Her sister." He said in low whisper, pointing toward Maggie. "Long story short, she got caught in between our group and another. I coulda stopped it if I’da thought to push her behind me… she’d still be here.” Hannah could see the guilt and regret ripping him to shreds and closed her eyes at the heartbreak she felt for him, knowing the feelings well, herself.

Daryl rolled onto his side and faced her, shielding his eyes. She reached down and wrapped her hand around his, hoping that just the contact with someone would help.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, giving his arm a warm squeeze. He didn't say anything in return, he’d already spoken more today than he had in past two weeks. Instead, he just turned to hide his face in the curve of her hip and stayed, relaxing the tension in his body as she slowly stroked his long hair.

The silence stretched for another several hours, Daryl sleeping easily in her lap, probably for the first time in a long while as she sorted through her own thoughts. But when the engine of the truck began to rumble, he stirred and woke, the loud clinks of the truck's motor signaling the end of their gas supply.

“That’s it. Just like the last one.” The tall red-headed soldier Abraham said, disappointed. The truck came to a slow stop and the group poured out, stretching and yawning as they spread out across the street.

"So we’ll walk." Rick said, holding his daughter Judith and pointing north.

Hannah looked over her shoulder as Daryl got out of the truck behind her, his hand grazing her shoulder as he shrugged into the strap of his crossbow. The sun beat down between the thickening clouds, the air humid and the heat unrelenting. She squinted into the sun and prayed to whatever god might still be listening that there be some relief some time soon.

***

The hours dragged slowly as the group walked in near silence. The sun was still shining, and the heat was still hot enough to burn blisters into their lungs. Daryl had grown unresponsive in the long hours of walking, leaving the road to look for water on several occasions - Hannah following from a distance to make sure he was safe.

Hannah couldn’t help but listen to the various snippets of quiet conversation between some of the others, the siblings of the two most recent losses hanging loosely by threads too thin to hold their weight, fighting the painful hopelessness of the world around them. She followed close behind Daryl as he kept to himself, rejecting anyone’s helping hand and ignoring the words that Maggie’s soft-spoken husband Glen had given him.

“Tell ‘em I’m goin’ to look for water.” He mumbled to Abraham, veering off of the road and disappearing into the trees. Hannah stopped in her tracks, letting the group continue in front of her and looked into the woods after him, torn between following him again or moving along. She waited another moment and moved toward the trees, paying close attention to the muffled sound of his distant footsteps.

The trees cleared and an old dirt path stretched into a rundown pasture as Hannah stopped to look in either direction, catching sight of Daryl sitting against a tree, his elbows resting on his thighs and a thick cloud of smoke pouring from between his lips. She stood and watched him for a few moments, her heart breaking as he pressed the burning cigarette into the skin of his hand. He struggled to catch his breath as he let his emotions come to the surface, quietly sobbing there on the ground by himself. His head slumped down into his chest and his shoulders shook, tears stinging the backs of Hannah’s eyes as she watched him fall apart, alone.

Before she could change her mind, Hannah pushed herself toward him, taking slow easy steps until she was beside him, and sat down on her knees. She let her hand fall to the curve of his arm while the other stroked along his shoulders and she leaned down to look at him. He didn’t look back at her, but instead kept his eyes squeezed shut, his face growing red at the strain of keeping himself together in front of her.

“Hey.” Hannah said quietly as her hand rested along the curve of the back of his neck. “You can talk to me if you need to. Or don’t. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He said nothing in return. Instead, he only cried. Swaying slowly in her arms as the pain of losing someone close rippled through every last fiber of him. She could feel the tension beneath her fingers as he sat there beside her, his breaths short and as pained as the misery he felt.

Hannah slowly pulled away and stood, swiping at the dirt on her jeans and turned to leave before he took her hand and kept her from taking a single step.

“No.” He said simply.

“No?”

“No… stay.”

She knelt down next to him again and watched him carefully. He stayed still, taking slow deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. Hannah moved to sit down next to him and stayed there, hoping he’d look over at her and tell her something. Anything. But he didn’t. Instead he took her hand in his and held it, gently running his thumb along her smooth skin.

Another few minutes passed as they sat there in silence before Hannah pulled herself up onto her feet and brushed herself off again. She took his arm in her hand and pulled him to get up with her.

“Come on.” She said quietly as he dusted himself off. “Looks like it might rain later. There’s a barn we outta check out for the group.”

He said nothing but followed close behind her, circling around the barn before opening the door into the slightly cooler, dusty wooden building. There wasn’t much to it, just some old farm tools and a few bales of hay off to one side, but it was something the group could use for cover if need be. Hannah laid down a tattered old blanket that had been hanging on a nail and sat down, reveling in the feeling of not having to stand or walk for even just a few moments. Daryl sat down on the ground next to her, his square shoulder just barely touching her leg.

“You know, I haven’t thanked you yet.” She said finally.

“Huh?”

“For helping me. You didn’t have to stay that night. You didn’t have to bring me into your group. Thank you.”

“Oh.” He said, waving it off. “It’s nothin’.”

“Maybe to you it’s nothing. It's a shitty world out there, so it’s nice to finally have a group of people who actually give a crap. No matter how awful they feel. No matter how horrible life gets.”

Daryl looked up and watched her for a moment, his expression softening. Hannah let her hand fall to stroke the back of his head and leaned down, pressing her lips to his hair. She pulled herself down to sit next to him, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I don’t know you all that well, but it’s fairly obvious you’re not the kind of person who opens up with everyone - if anyone at all. And that’s fine. I just want you know that I care about you and what you did… What you do. It means a lot. Maybe not to you, but to me.”

She looked over at him for a moment before looking straight ahead, keeping enough distance between them to give him the space she knew he needed.

“Least I can do.” Daryl said, taking her by surprise. She stared at the wall ahead of them before she looked back over at him and waited for his eyes to meet hers . When he finally looked back, she gave him a smile as she felt herself blush and forget to breathe, the familiar stir of need swirling around deep inside of her. She fidgeted with her hands and turned to look forward again, nervous and self conscious as he continued to watch her.

But as another minute ticked by, Hannah gave in and lifted her hand to comb through his hair. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before he turned and pressed his lips to hers, his hand cradling the tender curve of her neck while the other searched for the button of her jeans. Impatient, Hannah got up and unbuttoned them herself, letting Daryl pull them to the hay padded floor. She sat down on the hay bales behind her as he tugged at her panties and let them fall to her ankles.

Hannah let out a long breath as Daryl ran his fingers along the smooth skin of her thighs, sending chills up her spine while she leaned back, pulling her shirt off and tossing it to the side. The loud clinks of Daryl’s belt and the muffle of his clothes hitting the floor cut through the silence as Hannah watched him undress and return to her, his muscular arms holding him up as he leaned over and pressed his lips to her neck. His fingers found her wet and aching flesh and teased her, throwing her senses into a tailspin as he nipped at her skin.

“Put the vest on. I love the fuckin’ vest.” Hannah breathed, rolling her hips with the movement of his fingers. “Please.”

Daryl paused for a moment and watched her before he obliged, the worn leather edges of his vest falling to caress the delicate skin of her ribs. He leaned back down and his lips found her nipple, teasing and sucking as fresh waves of need radiated from between her legs. Hannah reached between them and took all of him in her hands and stroked while she pressed her own lips to the firm muscle of his arm. She took a sharp inhale as his fingers rolled in tight circles around her clit, teasing slowly at her wet, aching entrance. Their breaths were quick and labored as the desire between them grew desperate, Hannah pulling her knees up to her chest beneath him, still working him as he became harder in her hand.

“Fuck this.” He grunted, yanking her hand away from him and pinning her wrists down above her head with one hand and guiding his tip to tease her soaking core.

“Fuck. Do it. Just fucking do it. Please.” Hannah begged, breathless, the need to feel him inside of her too much to take. She arched her hips upward and he plunged into her, his thrusts fast and hard and just what she needed.

Daryl still held her wrists tight above her head as he ran his other hand along her ribs, and to the delicate skin of her nipples, standing and ready for him to suck and nip. He held one of them between his fingers and tugged, the mix of pain and pleasure intoxicating and sending waves of goosebumps across her skin.  
Hannah struggled with her hands above her head, trying desperately to reach down and rub at the bud above the delicious contact they were making, but Daryl’s hand held her firmly in place. His head dipped into her neck, his lips leaving hot, wet kisses along her skin and his teeth nipping at her ear lobe while he pumped hard between her legs. Hannah tightened herself around him as she felt the first wave of her orgasm build and swell deep in her core, her breathing growing hard and desperate as she tried to choke back the cry of ecstasy clawing at her throat.

As the senseless wave of euphoria swept through her, Hannah couldn’t help but let out several harsh gasps as she tried to reign in the overwhelming need to scream. Daryl’s hips bucked harder into her, his tip hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves deep within and she could no longer keep herself in check.

“Oh fuck! Daryl! Don’t fuc-” Hannah’s voice was loud and desperate before Daryl’s hand was over her mouth, keeping her voice choked and quiet as she tried to wrap her fingers around his hand still holding hers above her head.

“Quiet.” Daryl whispered, running his tongue along the curve of her ear.

The waves of Hannah’s release tumbled through her, sending her body into luscious rolls against Daryl’s as he worked between her legs, the velvet of his movement lighting her skin on fire and choking her breath into quick, uncontrollable gasps. Daryl finally let her hands go and pressed his fingers to tight bud above her entrance and working them in loose circles, throwing her even deeper into a blinding, white hot thoughtless abyss. Hannah’s hands wrapped around Daryl’s neck and pulled his face to hers just as he gave out a harsh breath, his muscles growing rigid against her body as he twitched inside of her.

“Shit!” He hissed in her ear, pulling himself from her tight, slick walls and straightening himself up. Hannah rushed to get on her knees in front of him and wrapped her lips around his twitching shaft, lapping up the sweet and sticky taste of sex from every inch of him. Daryl’s hand fell to rest at the base of her head as she moved along him, her tongue playing masterfully as he tugged at a handful of her hair and tried to catch his breath. The warm, salty fluid of Daryl’s orgasm shot quickly into Hannah’s mouth and he grunted loudly, messing his fingers through her hair as he watched her mouth engulf all of him. Her gag reflex tickled his throbbing head at the back of her throat before she leaned back, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and gazing up at him.

“Fuck, girl.” He growled under his breath as Hannah slowly stood up, her arms wrapping around his waist. She let her tongue trace along the curve of his collarbone and up to his ear, stopping to nip at the delicate skin of his earlobe as she ran her hands along the worn angel wings of his vest.

They stood there in silence for what seemed like hours, arms wrapped around one another and quietly catching their breath. Hannah’s skin still tingled as she stood naked and pressed against him, the soft edges of his vest tickling her ribs. She turned to look up at him and pressed her lips to his cheek, her palm resting easily on the other cheek before she nestled her face into the curve of his neck again.

“I think this place’ll be okay. For the night anyway.” Hannah said softly into his skin. Daryl’s hand ran up the skin of her ribs, sending chills up her spine before he bent down to pull on his pants, the loud clinks of his belt cutting through the silence.

“Yeah. Stinks like horse shit. But it’ll be alright.” Daryl returned, turning to face her as he bent over to pick up her discarded clothes, planting kisses along her skin as he helped her dress. Daryl pulled on his shirt and they turned to leave, dusting off their clothes and straightening their hair as they exited the barn and stepped back into the sweltering heat.

The afternoon was silent and still, just as it had been before they’d been inside. More clouds had rolled in and blocked some of the sun but did nothing to alleviate the heat or humidity, making their skin even more sweaty and sticky than it had already been. The two walked side by side without sharing any words, moving in stride with one another. Hannah let her hand take Daryl’s and laced her fingers with his, looking over at him as he watched her, giving him a coy smile before turning to look ahead through the trees. Seeing their group gathered on the abandoned road ahead, she paused and kissed his cheek, let go of his hand and left him. Knowing he would wait before he emerged from the trees, she reached the road and rejoined their group, taking a seat without a single word.

“You see Daryl out there anywhere?” Rick asked over the thick clomp of his boots on the asphalt.

“Yeah, he was smokin’ a cigarette. Didn’t find any water, so I headed back. He’s not far behind.” Hannah said, squinting into the sun as she tried to look up at him.

“Good. He’ll wanna see this.” He returned, a single sheet of paper hanging between his fingers, the bold black lettering catching Hannah’s eye.

‘FROM A FRIEND’

She stared at it for a second before she looked behind him at their group, gathered around something on the ground. A dark knot of unease twisting in her gut as she realized what it was.

“What the fuck?” Hannah blurted, her eyes wide and her brain scrambling to make sense of it. Daryl emerged from the trees a moment later and yanked the paper from Rick’s hand, his expression as disturbed as Hannah felt as he saw it, too.

Water. Gallons of it.

‘FROM A FRIEND’


	5. Chapter 5

The clouds in the sky swirled above just as the worry and confusion did in the minds of everyone in the group. The disturbing gift ‘from a friend’ had shaken everyone. The allure of finally having something to drink was hard for all of them to resist, but the overwhelming pit of suspicion gripped tight and kept them from indulging - at least for everyone but the tall dark haired Eugene who started to pace as the others discussed the possibility of being caught in a trap. He bent down and grabbed a bottle of water and removed the cap, the others calling out his name in opposition.

“Quality assurance.” He said, lifting the bottle to his lips. Abraham rushed at him and swatted the bottle away.

“We can’t.” Rick said, his voice soft against the rumble of thunder coming from above. A second later, the skies above opened and the rain finally came. The cool water poured down, relief washing over many in the group; worry over the others as the reality of their abandon came into harsh focus. Hannah stood a few feet in front of Daryl, pulling at her soaking shirt as it clung to her skin and watched him, his expression one of quiet unease as his hair fell into his eyes and stuck to his face. Rick and the others started to open up their bags before the wind picked up and the thunder crashed around them, dark ominous clouds rolling toward them.

“Lets keep moving.” Rick said over Judith’s cries.

“There’s a barn.” Daryl called toward him as the group picked up their bags.

“Where?” Rick asked, everyone up and ready to follow closely behind Daryl.

…

The quiet crackling of the fire cast a warm orange glow along the faces of the group gathered around an old trashcan lid turned into a fire pit. Hannah tucked herself into the snug corner of the barn as Daryl and the others talked quietly. She folded her knees and pulled them to her chest, rocking from side to side as Rick’s low voice mumbled from across the room. She couldn’t quite catch everything from where she sat, but instead leaned her head back against a thick wood stud of the wall and begged for sleep. A loud crack of thunder pierced the air and Hannah pulled herself to her feet, slowly walking toward the fire to lean on a column, catching the last bit of Rick’s speech.

“We are the walking dead.” He said, his voice low and gritty. There was a heavy pause as everyone in the circle let his words sink in.

“Nah. We ain’t them.” Daryl said, standing up.

“What?” Rick asked.

“We ain’t them.”

Daryl walked away and retreated to his own corner of the barn as flashes of lightning pulsed through the cracks of the barn walls. Hannah stood and watched him as he paced back and forth, stuck in his own head and drowning in his thoughts, moving slowly at first before the rain began to pick up and the wind rustled the branches outside. He finally stopped his pacing and stood against the far wall of the barn, his legs spread and his arms folded across his chest as he continued to bury himself in his frustration and worry. Hannah had slid down to lean against a column and continued to watch him, wishing she had the balls to get up and hold him, knowing that if she did he’d push her away like he always did when he was angry. Instead she watched him carefully from her spot on the dirty floor, the annoying itch of hay biting at her ass no matter how she moved or shifted her weight.

Daryl stayed there for a long time as Hannah fell asleep and woke back up, his head hanging low as he stood in the same place. His head jerked up as lightning flashed outside and a loud roar of thunder shook the walls of the barn, bringing Hannah to full attention as the doors of the barn started to push in. Daryl rushed to them and looked through the crack and pushed, using his legs as anchors to push against the impending dangers from outside. The soft soil under his feet began to give and Hannah pushed herself to her feet and ran to him, shoving all of her weight onto the doors next to Daryl. Using what strength they had, they both stood their ground and pressed every ounce of force they could to push back at the growing number of walkers outside, letting out guttural screams as the pressure from the other side grew stronger. But just as they thought they couldn’t hold off the weight of the walkers any longer, arms and bodies began to pile on behind them, pushing the doors closed as the groans of corpses became louder and thunderous sounds of gale force winds tore at the trees outside.

…

Hannah woke up easily as the cool early morning air chilled her skin and the sky had barely turned to light. She laid still and watched Daryl exchange a few words with Maggie before she walked away, waking up Sasha and quietly exiting the barn. Hannah sat up slowly and rubbed at her eyes before walking over to Daryl who sat against the same wall as before, his elbows resting easily on his knees. She took a seat next to him and let her head lean on his shoulder, closing her eyes and crossing her ankles in front of her. The warmth of Daryl’s hand fell to rest easily on her thigh, her skin growing warm from his touch as he leaned his head down to rest on the top of hers. Hannah nuzzled her face into Daryl’s neck and planted a warm kiss in the curve of it, lacing her arm inside of his and listened as his breathing became slow and relaxed.

Thankful that he had finally found sleep, Hannah sat there with him for a long time as he slept, the weight of his head heavy on top of hers. Their limbs were intertwined with one another’s as he let out the softest of snores - something she had yet to hear him do until now, and she smiled. She couldn’t think of the last time she had given an honest smile. Not the kind where the corners of her mouth turned up at something mildly humorous, but a real, honest-to-goodness smile that spread across her face and made her glow. But here she was, laying in an old, shit-smelling barn surrounded by the woods of only God knew where with a man she’d met by accident sleeping on her shoulder, smiling like damned fool. The world had turned to shit, and somehow, she had found a way of feeling like there was something to smile about. She gave a light laugh and closed her eyes while she took Daryl’s hand and laced her fingers with his, relaxing into him as he pulled his arm lazily over her shoulders in his sleep, letting herself find sleep of her own.

***

Members of the group woke up slowly, stretching and gathering their things quietly as the morning air lost it’s chill. Daryl and Hannah still sat leaned against the wall, both of them with their arms wrapped around their knees and watching as everyone prepared for the day. Hannah turned her head to the doors as the sound of female voices approached. The doors flew open with a loud bang and Maggie and Sasha burst through the doors, only they weren’t alone - just a step ahead of them, a clean shaven man in a blue and white plaid shirt came in, alerting everyone inside.

“Everyone, this is Aaron.” Maggie announced, gun in hand but not pointed at the stranger.

Daryl shot up and grabbed his crossbow, only to abandon it on the ground before he shoved the man up a step and frisked him for weapons. Everyone was on their feet in less than a second and on edge, Aaron standing calmly in the center of the barn.  
Hannah looked over to Daryl and watched him carefully, full well knowing he was too cautious to let Aaron make a move without being ready to take him down. Aaron continued in his attempt to persuade Rick into bringing the group with him, even handing him a small stack of photographs, describing the promise of steel walls around a community of survivors who thrived not far from the barn they were currently standing in. Having heard enough, Rick tossed down the black and white photos and rushed at Aaron, his fist striking across Aaron’s face with a loud crack quickly followed by the thud of him falling to the ground out cold. Hannah turned to pick up the photographs and a confusing mix of hope and caution twisted and turned in knots in her stomach.

Rick announced his orders for the group to prepare themselves for Aaron’s group, his paranoia getting the best of him before Aaron came too from the barn floor.

“Hell of a right cross there, Rick.” He smiled from the ground.

“Sit him up.” Rick said, Michonne and Maggie trying to convince him otherwise. “He’s fine, sit him up.”

Hannah turned her attention back to Daryl who stood just behind Rick, slowly pacing and trying to make sense of the case Aaron was trying to make.

“… I’m pretty sure no matter what number I say - eight, thirty two, 444, zero. No matter what I say, you’re not going to trust me.”

“It’s pretty hard to trust someone who smiles after you punch him in the face.”

“How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?”

Daryl turned to look at the bottles of water sitting just across the room, stepping toward Aaron.

“How long your people been followin’ us?”

“Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that despite your lack of food or water, you never turned on each other…”

Hannah stepped over to Daryl and took his arm in her hand, pulling him aside as the others continued to listen to Aaron still sitting on the ground.

“You believe him?” Hannah whispered, turning away from the group.

“Don’t know yet. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

“What’re you thinkin’?”

“I don’t know… he doesn't really look like he’s trying to hide anything. But I’m not necessarily the greatest at judging character.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“I trusted Jason, too.”

Daryl gave a small nod and let his hand rest at the small of Hannah’s back for a moment, turning to look toward Rick and Aaron again and back at her.

“Ain’t your fault he did what he did. Can’t blame yourself.”

Daryl’s words struck a sensitive cord, the comfort of hearing them choking at her throat.

“Still shoul-“

“Stop.” He interrupted, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze.

“I want everyone in groups of two in all directions.” Rick called out to the group, jerking the two’s attention away from one another. Hannah looked to Daryl and followed him outside before hearing the rest of the instructions, trailing closely behind him gun in hand and knife tucked snug into it’s sheath around her hips.

The air in her lungs left her in heavy gasps as the two ran into the trees, listening closely for anyone or anything that may be following. Daryl stopped suddenly and crouched behind some bushes, moving his arm to pull Hannah behind him.

“I don’t see anything except a couple of walkers…” Hanna whispered, wrapping her hand around the smooth metal handle of her knife.

“Me neither… let’s go. You good on ammo?”

“Yeah, I’m loaded. Grabbed a few extra last night.”

Daryl nodded and they snuck around the bushes, moving swiftly between the trees with weapons drawn and ears attuned to any other sound than their own footsteps. The ground was still damp beneath their feet and the soles of their shoes sank into the mud, slowing them down more than the tree branches haphazardly laying across the ground. Hannah heaved her weight over the large trunk of a fallen tree and her feet made heavy contact with the earth below. The heavy crack of metal on metal split through the air and Hannah’s body flung forward, stopped by the sudden pull of a heavy metal chain.

“FUCK!” Hannah screamed into the ground, pain shooting up from her ankle clutched in the jaws of a bear trap. “Daryl! Dar- fuck!”

Daryl stopped in his tracks and looked back, panic washing over his face as she pulled and struggled with the metal claws buried deep in her flesh. Hannah cried out again and he ran to her, landing on his knees and brushing away the damp leaves and twigs tangled in the trap.

“Get it off! Holy shit just get it off! Please!” Hannah begged, her chest heaving and her pulse roaring in her ears as the pain seared at every nerve, taking her breath away in panicked, painful gasps.

“Hold on! You gotta hold stil-“

“Holy shi-“ Hannah choked on the guttural scream that escaped from deep in her stomach, yanking and writhing away from movements of the trap as Daryl tried to release it. He let go of it and took her shoulders in his hands, holding her still and pulling her attention to him.

“Hold still!” He demanded, concern and panic still painted across his face. Tears stung at the back of Hannah’s eyes and she squeezed them shut, nodding her head in understanding as Daryl continued to struggle with the old metal. Searing and sharp, the pain nearly knocked her unconscious, stealing the air from her lugs and forcing every muscle to contract. Hannah grabbed for her freed leg and pulled her knee to her chest, tears pouring from her eyes as the wounds oozed with blood.

“Lemme see.” Daryl said, taking careful hold of her foot.

“FUCK! Daryl, no!” Hannah winced, forcing her leg out of his hands.

“Lemme see it!” He ordered, giving her a serious grimace. Hannah’s lungs heaved as she tried to catch her breath while Daryl wiped at the dirt and leaves.

“Shit, we gotta get you back there.” He said, pulling the red handkerchief from his back pocket and wrapping it around her ankle. “You still feel it?”

“Of course I can fucking feel it!” Hannah snapped, biting down hard as Daryl tightened the fabric around her leg.

“I mean your foot. Cuts like that’d probably really fuck somethin’ up.”

“How bad’s it look?” Hannah asked, wiggling her toes and trying to take a closer look. She winced and fell back, taking a deep breath to try and ease the pain away.

“Gotta at least clean it up. Let's go. Ain’t nobody out here.”

Daryl bent further down to pull her up and she hissed at the movement, struggling to put any weight on her throbbing ankle.

"Here." Daryl said, suddenly moving to pick Hannah up from the ground, his hand resting at the small of her back.

"No, I'll be fine." Hannah returned, out of breath.

"You got four holes in your leg, you ain't fine. Or you won't be after walkin' on it."

"Daryl, I'm okay to wa-" Hannah's voice cut off by the sharpening pain by putting too much weight on an ankle that was more than likely broken.

"Just stop." Daryl continued, annoyed and flustered. Hannah forced a sigh and resigned, letting him continue to take all of her weight into his arms and wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

"Sometimes, you really piss me off." Hannah joked, running her hand along his worn leather vest and up to rest in the corner of his neck. She gave him a gentle squeeze and winced again at a sudden pang in her ankle, hoping this kind of injury wouldn't slow her down enough to put her new group in danger.

*****

"What the hell happened?" Rick asked before the barn door was even closed.

"Metal bear trap got her ankle." Daryl answered, his voice strained as he lowered Hannah onto the same bales of hay they'd been on the previous day. Rick turned his attention to Hannah and took gentle hold of her shoulder, kneeling down and looking directly into her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Hurts like hell, but I'll survive. Been through worse."

"Try and stay off of it, then." He said easily, turning his attention back to Aaron, his expression changing to one painted in suspicion. "Do your people set traps out here?"

"Nah, Rick, this one was old. Been out there a good long while."

"We would never do-"

"Enough." Rick cut him off, picking his daughter up from where she sat playing with an empty water bottle on the floor.

"Nobody happens to have a tetanus shot on them, would they?" Hannah half-joked, rummaging through her bag for anything to replace Daryl's handkerchief around her ankle.

The corner of Daryl's mouth teased at a smile before he stopped himself and opened a bottle of water, removed his handkerchief and carefully started to clean around the bite marks of the trap.

"Jesus, be careful!" Hannah winced, pulling her leg away from Daryl's hands. He gave her a moment to compose herself before he continued, this time with a lighter touch.

Hannah tuned out the sound of Rick and Aaron as they went back and forth, looking up at the ceiling before squeezing her eyes shut, trying to focus on getting through the painful sting coursing up her leg as Daryl cleaned her up. His hands were suddenly absent and Hannah turned her attention back to him, watching as he tore at one of Carol's shirts and wrapped it around her ankle. Daryl stood back up and watched as other members of the group made their way back inside, never leaving Hannah's side.

“Woah, you okay?" Maggie asked from her bag in the corner.

"Old bear trap or something." Hannah said, rubbing lightly along her ankle.

"Is it broken?" Glenn chimed in, walking up behind her.

"Feels like it. But no, I don't think so."

"We gotta find some kinda meds for this thing. This ain't clean and that thing was old an' rusted." Daryl said, his words and expression laced with concern. More members of the group made there way back into the barn, their arms full of enough food to last them at least a week.

“This. This is ours now.” Rick said, holding one of the cans in his hand.

“There's more than enough.” Aaron added, his arms still tied around a post.

“It’s ours. Whether or not we go to your camp.”

“What do you mean, why wouldn’t we go?” Carl spoke up, his tone surprised and let down as he stepped forward. Hannah sat quietly to the side, trying and failing to focus on anything other than the wicked pain throbbing at her foot and ankle.

“If he were lying.” Michonne said, moving toward Rick and the enticing pile of canned goods. “If he wanted to hurt us… but he isn’t. And he doesn’t. We need this. So we’re going. All of us. Somebody say something if they feel differently.”

“I dunno, man..” Daryl said from his place next to Hannah, his hands clasped and his elbows resting on his knees. “This barn smells like horse shit.”

Hannah smiled at his simple, poignant words, knowing they meant far more than what he had said.

Resigned, Rick stood a moment and thought to himself.

“Yeah. We’re goin’.” He finally said. “So where are we goin’? Where’s your camp?”

Aaron looked up at him, his expression worried as he tried to explain his unease with sharing his camp’s location before Michonne interrupted.

“You’re not driving. So if you want to get home, you’re going to have to tell us how.”

Reluctantly, Aaron gave a couple of basic directions, insisting on the safer roads that he and his partner had cleared. Rick kneeled down and studied the map he’d taken from Aaron’s bag and looked up at him, arguing his insistence of taking a different route. Sasha chimed in to question the safety of leaving at night as Rick had suggested just as Aaron had warned him of the dangers of the route he’d chosen, but he wasn’t to be swayed, having made his final decision and made it clear that that would be the end of it.

“Tell me where the camp is, we’ll leave right now.” Rick finally said, knowing Aaron wasn’t about to give him the exact location. “It’s gonna be a long night. Eat. Get some rest if you can.”

Hannah sat and watched as everyone started to slowly pack their things, loading them into the RV waiting outside, an odd mix of hope and unease mixing deep in the pit of her stomach. The idea that she couldn't tell whether this community could be a Godsend or just another cursed illusion didn't sit well with her and she had to take a moment to weigh the pros and cons of what her new group was about to embark on.

Hannah moved to sit up and reached for the wood beam to the right of her for balance and uneasily pulled herself to her feet. She bent down to pick up her bag, wincing at the pressure of her weight on her foot before Daryl swiped her bag up before she could take it.

"You're comin' with me. Let's go." He said, moving to pick her up again.

"I got it." Hannah returned, reaching for her bag still in his hands. He pulled it out of reach and gave her a look that almost made her apologize.

"Would you stop? What if it's broken?" Daryl said, his tone serious and laced with worry, his arms already lifting her from the ground. A soft grunt escaped from him as he settled her in his arms, the sound of it a quiet reminder of the feel of him she enjoyed more than anything.

"Sorry, I'm trying not to be a huge pain in the ass." Hannah said easily, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Too late for that." Daryl added, smirking back at her. Hannah laughed at that and rubbed her fingers into the skin on the back of his neck, a comforting sense of affection washing over her as she reached with her other hand to open the barn door.  
The RV that waited outside was something that came right out the year 1984 as Hannah and Daryl left the barn, bags draped from Daryl’s arms. Michonne waited just in front of the RV door with Abraham, each of them engrossed in a map before Michonne turned her attention to the two of them.

“We’re only going half way tonight. If we for some reason get separated, just keep going and take this road to an old factory building here. We’ll meet you there.” Michonne said, pointing out directions as she handed Abraham a map before he loaded himself onto the RV.

Hannah moved to slide out of Daryl’s arms and took her bag from him before she took hold of the door frame and heaved herself up. Daryl took her waist in his hands and helped her up, another soft groan coming from deep in his belly as he lifted her into the RV. He followed close behind her and set their bags on the floor, taking his seat in the small booth next to Hannah and looking to the front where Abraham sat in the driver’s seat. Abraham looked back through the reflection of the rearview mirror, the two of them understanding the unsaid words between them.

Daryl nodded his head to Abraham after the others made their way into the RV. It eased it into motion a moment later and turned to the north, headed towards whatever this community had to offer - if anything at all.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm more than a little worried they aren't here yet." Hannah said quietly, leaning against the brick wall of the dilapidated building. Rick's insistence of taking a different route had split the group in two, Eric and the RV taking the known cleared Route 16 while Rick ordered Aaron's car to venture into an area Aaron had cautioned him about. 

"Can't say I ain't worried either. Shouldn't take 'em this long." Daryl's voice was soft and worried, sitting next to her, his legs out stretched and crossed at his ankles. The evening was cool and a welcome change from the heat of the sun they'd been stuck in for weeks, the stars brighter than Hannah had ever really noticed. 

"Your ankle feelin' okay?" Daryl asked, breaking the silence. 

"So far so good. Hurts like hell..."

"Oughta stay off your feet a while."

"Probably right. But you know that won't happen."

"Probably shouldn't waste my breath, then."

"Probably not. It's almost impossible to stay off your feet anymore anyways."

Daryl nodded and leaned his head to look up at the sky, pulling an old ragged cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. 

"That'll kill you one day." Hannah joked, stealing it from his fingers and taking a deep drag. She coughed at the stale, bitter smoke filling her lungs and exhaling in one long blow. Regretting the decision, she handed back the cigarette and ran her hand through his hair, gently massaging the back of his neck. 

"Either that or those things out there." Daryl said plainly, a quiet sadness to his words. "I'd almost rather it be this so I didn't fight 'em for so long for it to all be for nothin'."

"I think it'd still mean something. Actually, I think it'd mean a lot."

"Yeah? How?"

"Just the very idea of fighting a losing battle. Perseverance? And for people you care about? Just proves how good you really are... despite the small ways you show it." 

"The hell does that mean?"

"I just mean, the people you love and care about know you do. And they know it without you going out of your way to prove it with some big show. Loyalty isn't shown by some big gesture. Neither is love. The small things matter, Daryl. They're important. And the fact that you care so deeply for them and keep fighting these things despite that there will always be more... and that someday, they may kill you? Shows me you've got the kind of character that anyone should aspire to have." Hannah paused to look straight at him, her hand resting easily on the top of his thigh. Daryl fidgeted absently with one of his few remaining arrows, turning it in between his fingers while he sat there and thought to himself. 

"Can't keep you or anyone else safe if I'm dead." Daryl finally said, smoke pouring from between his lips with each word. 

"You're irreplaceable because of that." Hannah said easily. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, pausing to give him a smile and returning to her place beside him. Hannah couldn't help but sit and smile to herself, something about sitting and doing nothing but sharing the same space with Daryl seemed to make the world just a little easier to live in. He was quiet and stubborn more often than not, but his unwavering need to protect and fight for what he cared for drew her in no matter how much he kept to himself. It hadn't been longer than a few weeks she'd spent with the group and it was almost like she'd belonged all along. 

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Daryl asked quietly, almost shying away. Hannah pulled her knee to her chest and wrapped her arms around it, resting her cheek on her knee and nodding. 

"What was it that made you interested?"

Hannah stayed still and thought for a moment. Her mind drew a blank as she tried to think of what it was that pulled her in to him in the beginning. At first, it was the need for human contact and the idea that when she first saw him there in that parking lot, torn apart and broken, that maybe he needed her as much as she needed him. But now, actually thinking about it, it was more the overwhelming need to just have someone to like. To be intimate with. To share things with - whether it be silence or their deepest secrets. Just someone to be close to. And when she first saw Daryl there in that deserted parking lot, somewhere deep down, there was no question in her mind that he was the one who could make her feel human again. She wouldn't have ever admitted it before, but now things were different. She could be comfortable with the people she was with, and somehow, being with him - and being with them, had helped with the terrors that plagued her in the dark. Having a group had been her saving grace. And now that she had one that seemed to be as thankful for her as she was for them, it was nearly impossible to think of living without it. 

"Well, you broke into the building I cleared for myself."

"Stranger breakin' into a building you knew had food and shit he could take?"

"I'd seen you outside. I knew you were upset."

"Who knew what I'd have done though..."

"I don't know, Daryl... I don't know what it was. Something about you, I just... I needed people. I needed to feel like a person again." 

Daryl stayed quiet and watched her from the corner of his eye. Hannah stayed still, their eyes locked on one another. She lifted her head and stretched her leg back out in front of her, looking down and fidgeting with her fingers in her lap. 

"I could feel you were broken. Something had happened that you couldn't get past. Otherwise you wouldn't have been there. And I'm so glad you were."

Daryl nodded as the beginnings of a smile tugged at his mouth and he heaved himself to his feet, offering his hand to Hannah. He pulled her up and helped her find her balance, wrapping his arms around her. He nuzzled into the curve of Hannah's neck and she nearly melted there in his arms, running her fingernails lightly along his back underneath his vest. 

"I saw you an' had to have you." Daryl whispered, kissing just behind her ear. 

"I was gonna say the same thing." 

Daryl moved to lift Hannah from the ground and slowly carried her to a secluded corner of the building, tucking their bodies behind a stack of wooden crates. 

"You gotta stay quiet out here for me." He said, setting her down on a long crate sitting against the building in front of him. 

"I can't make that promise." Hannah purred, fumbling with the buckle of his belt. Daryl pulled at the hem of her shirt and tossed it behind her, pressing his lips to the flushed skin between her breasts. Hannah slipped off her bra and ran her fingers through his hair, turning her face toward the heavens and closing her eyes at the feel of his tongue around her nipple. 

Daryl tugged on it slightly when he pulled away and turned his attention to her neck, pressing his lips along her skin and working his way up to kiss her. Hannah welcomed his powerful kiss, even savoring the bitter taste of stale cigarette smoke on his breath. She leaned back to lay down and Daryl pulled himself from her lips, watching her carefully as he left a trail of kisses down her chest and stomach. He pulled at the metal buckle of her belt and pulled at her old jeans, carefully removing them, paying close attention to any pressure and movement that could hurt her injured ankle. 

Daryl's hand returned to run along the skin of her thighs, finding the tender folds between them that ached for him. Hannah hissed in lust when Daryl's fingers ran along her slick lips, too in love with the feel of his touch. His tongue suddenly found her excited bud, moving in generous circles and driving her senses wild. A moan escaped from Hannah's throat and Daryl's tongue suddenly left her, leaving her out of breath and wanting. He pulled himself on top of the crate and loomed over her, pressing this lips to hers. Hannah rocked her jaw along with his, savoring the taste of herself when his tongue found it's way between her lips. 

"Told you, you gotta stay quiet." He said into her mouth as they kissed. 

"Sorry," Hannah breathed, "I won't let it happen again."

"No, you won't." Daryl warned playfully. 

"Yeah? What if I do?"

"Then I'll fuckin' stop." 

Hannah laughed and reached between them, taking all of him, hard and ready, in her hand. Daryl kissed at the hollow of her collarbone and moved the fabric of her underwear out of the way, replacing her hand with his own as he guided himself to fill her completely. 

"Damn, you're always so fucking tight." He said, his voice a low growl in her ear. 

"That's not a problem, is it?" Hannah teased, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck. 

"Hell no."

Daryl slowly started to ease his hips against hers, breathing into her neck and nipping at her skin. He picked up his pace and picked himself up to look at her, his eyes never leaving hers as his thrusts grew harder and more urgent. 

Hannah's breathing quickened and desperate moans started to pull at her throat, the feel of him too much for her to handle and stay quiet at the same time. Daryl pressed his hand over her mouth to muffle her growing volume, but her lips instead wrapped around his index and middle fingers, sucking on them slowly with her eyes still glued to his. Daryl continued to pump faster, pushing himself deeper with each thrust and making contact with the sensitive and yearning patch of nerves buried deep inside of her. 

"Fuck, Daryl. Yes, make me come." Hannah begged, her words breathy and weak. "Please, make me fucking come." 

She brought her hand to her chest and tugged at her nipple, writing beneath him and the ecstasy he was working her into. She tightened herself around him and pulled at the back of his neck, bringing his lips to hers and burying her tongue in between his lips before an unexpected voice cut them both short. 

"You heard the girl, Daryl."

Daryl froze on top of her, still buried deep inside of her begging core, his chest heaving. He looked down at Hannah, a mix of surprise and panic painted across both of their faces. He leaned up and looked behind his back to see Rick stepping closer into view. 

"What the hell?"

"The others said you and Hannah took off a while ago. Nobody'd seen you since. Not like you to just take off and not tell anyone." 

"Think there might'a been a reason?" Daryl said, pulling Hannah's hips with him as he straightened up to lean on his heals without pulling himself out of her. 

"Guess I didn't realize you two were thing."

Daryl's hand ran smoothly along Hannah's thigh and up to rest on her hip, giving her a warm squeeze as he gave her a small smile. 

"Didn't know anyone wanted or needed to know." 

Hannah smiled to herself and ran her hand up and under his old button up shirt, massaging her fingertips along his skin. She pulled at the buttons with her other hand and leaned up on her elbows, opening her legs further for him. A warm swell of affection rolled over her, flushing her chest and cheeks bright red as Daryl and Rick continued to talk quietly. 

"Hey, uh, can we maybe wrap up your little gossip session? I'm naked if you hadn't noticed." Hannah finally interrupted, giving Daryl a pinch along his thigh still hidden by his pants, every inch of her aching for him. Rick stepped into view and gave her a wink before looking to Daryl, who nodded in approval for him to move in closer.

"Daryl tells me you like to make noise." He said, pulling himself up onto the crate next to Daryl. 

"Think he may be able to help fix that." Daryl added, leaning down and kissing along her collarbone. 

"Is that right?" Hannah teased, biting her lip at the idea of what was likely about to take place. She'd never thought of Rick in any kind of sexual way, from the first night with Daryl, she hadn't thought of anyone else. But now with him here in front of her, it couldn't have been a better idea. She ran her hands through Daryl's hair and pulled his lips to hers before looking at him, watching for any kind of signal to not go through with what she wanted. He nodded and gave her a wicked, crooked smile, saying without words that this was what he wanted, too. With his approval, Hannah reached one of her hands over to the buckle of Rick's belt and fumbled with it, pulling at his zipper to reveal a hard and growing bulge underneath his briefs. 

"It's dangerous out here if you don't keep quiet." Rick said, his voice a near growl as Hannah pulled at the elastic of his briefs, letting his solid, aching erecting spring to attention. 

"She knows that," Daryl husked as he started to move again. "She just don't listen."

"Then let's make her listen." 

Hannah nearly lost all control at listening to the two of them, an insatiable need pulling at every nerve and muscle in her body. Rick lowered himself to kiss and nip along her neck, quiet moans escaping his throat as she slowly worked him in her hands. 

"Get up," Hannah whispered into his ear. "I want to taste you." 

Rick obliged without hesitation, getting up on his knees just next to her shoulder and letting out a long, heavy sigh as Hannah wrapped her lips around him. Daryl moved faster between her legs, the sound of their skin making contact with each other's echoing softly in their private corner. Luscious swells of heat started to build deep in Hannah's core and she lost the ability to keep herself quiet, letting harsh moans escape her throat.

"See, there she fuckin' goes again." Daryl grunted, coming to a dead stop and pulling himself from her soaking core. He grabbed at her hips and moved to sit down, holding his hand out to her and leaning against the cool brick building. Hannah broke away from Rick and climbed into Daryl's lap, his hand guiding his solid erection to fill her completely, this time deeper than any time before. Rick stood and met her at her shoulder, letting her wrap her mouth around him, his throbbing tip pressing at the back of her throat and gagging her. 

Daryl started to move beneath her, bringing his knees up behind her and rolling her hips in slow, gratifying rolls against his. Hannah moaned into Rick as she moved and sucked along him, her hand stroking with her lips while her other hand held tight to Daryl's neck. Rick reached to take a handful of her dark blonde hair, pulling her face closer to him and forcing her gag reflex to vibrate on his thick, throbbing head again. He let out a low groan laced with curse words, need pulling at every part of him as he watched her. He pulled away from her quickly, leaning down and pressing his lips against her in a hard kiss and took himself in his hand, letting Hannah catch her breath and reach down to run her fingers along the delicious movement between herself and Daryl. Hannah broke free from him and turned her attention to Daryl, lifting his face to hers to kiss him while her hand moved in fast, slick strokes and earned quiet, wanting moans from Rick. 

"I want him inside me." Hannah breathed into Daryl's ear and moving to kiss along his jaw. Daryl looked up and met her eyes, nodding as he stopped moving beneath her. He went to pull himself from underneath her before Hannah stopped him, placing her hands on his chest and kissing him again. 

"No. With you. I want to feel both of you." She whispered, grabbing blindly at Rick's shirt and pulling him toward her. "If you want me to stay quiet, you're both gonna have to fuck me until I can't scream." She added, her voice a low purr in Rick's ear as he got down onto his knees behind her. 

Daryl strained to reach for the pile of Hannah's abandoned clothes and balled them up, turning himself to lie down and use them as a pillow, letting Hannah lean forward into him. She moved each side of his open shirt and pressed her chest against his, biting her lip as Rick lined himself up to her puckered entrance and gave Hannah his hand. Hannah wrapped her lips around two of his fingers and gave them a generous coating before Rick brought them to her ass, rubbing along the tight hole he would soon ease himself into. 

"You ever done this before?" Rick asked, leaning down and pressing his lips behind her ear. 

"It's been a while. Go easy for now." Hannah answered, tossing her hair to one shoulder and hissing as he pushed one, then two fingers inside her. Rick moved his fingers in slow, easy movements, pressing them along her inner walls to feel Daryl's solid erection moving smoothly inside of her. 

"Hope you don't think I forgot about you." Hannah whispered, taking Daryl's cheek in her hand and kissing him. "Rick, fucking do it." She said from over her shoulder. She returned to meet Daryl's gaze, biting her lip and sucking in a breath as Rick pressed his swollen head just inside of her. Hannah let out a deep wanting moan, her eyes still holding onto Daryl's before he leaned up to kiss her, still moving his hips beneath her when Rick started to work his way into rhythm. 

"Oh fuck, you guys-" Hannah breathed, her orgasm already pulling heavily at her core. "Mm, fuck, you two are so fucking good."  
Rick and Daryl pumped in unison, both of them losing the ability to control the sounds coming from deep in their throats. Hannah could barely see straight as she leaned into Daryl's chest, tightening her walls around him and driving herself into a kind of ecstasy she'd never actually felt before. The sound of them breathing and moaning into her skin was enough to throw her into thoughtlessness, ripping away any semblance of control or conscious thought. Weak and nearly trembling, Hannah relaxed into Daryl's chest, her throat choked at the vicious waves of her release rolling through her. 

"Oh, god-" Hannah breathed, her voice barely a sound as she bit down hard on her lip. "Jesus fuc- Christ. I'm co- shit!"

"Shit, that's it." Daryl moaned into her skin. 

"Fuck, Rick- harder!"

Rick bucked harder behind her, gripping hard to one hip with one hand while holding her shoulder with the other. He buried himself deep into her ass, the feel of her tight entrance and Daryl pumping smoothly underneath her and against him bringing him to a thundering, chaotic release. 

Unable to keep herself from screaming, Hannah leaned into Daryl's chest again and let go, feeling a rush of fluid coat hers and Daryl's skin as she bit down hard and gasped for breath. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard, letting out a slight gasp when Rick suddenly pulled himself from behind her. Hannah broke away from Daryl and leaned up, offering Rick her mouth as he met her and worked himself in quick, desperate strokes. She wrapped her lips around him again and he let her take over, stroking along with her hand and waiting for him. 

"Swallow it." Daryl grunted, watching as Rick's orgasm coated Hannah's tongue and cheeks. He leaned up, kissed behind her ear and pulled away, thick white fluid falling in slow streams from Hannah's mouth. "Clean that up and swallow it."

Hannah did as he ordered, using Rick's still swollen tip to catch his own come and bringing it back to her mouth, swallowing hard as Daryl pressed his lips to her throat. 

"Shit, Daryl, this is what you've been keepin' all to yourself?" Rick asked, his voice low as he backed away and tucked himself back into his jeans. The sound of his zipper cut through their private corner and he looked down to smile at Hannah before he spoke again. 

"You're awfully good at that." He said, bending down and kissing along her cheek. 

"Might have had some practice." Hannah returned, giving the inside of his thigh a light pinch. Rick pulled away and she turned her attention back to Daryl, rolling her hips slowly on top of his.

"I'll uh- let you two finish up, then." Rick said easily, hopping down from the platform of crates they were on and giving Hannah a devilish wink before making his exit. She smiled back before he disappeared and turned back around, meeting Daryl's hungry gaze as he ran his hand smoothly from her hip to her breast, teasing and pulling at her nipple. 

Daryl pulled his knees up behind her and started to move faster, his other hand holding tight to her hip. Hannah took hold of one of his wrists in her hand and reached down between her legs with the other, pressing her fingers into the tight circles around her clit. Daryl tore her hand away and replaced it with his own, squeezing his eyes shut at the blissful feeling of her tightening her walls around him. 

"Oh god, Daryl..." Hannah whimpered, gasping for a breath that was nearly impossible to catch. "Oh my god, I- Jesu- I can't ho-!" 

Hannah's words were stolen from her as Daryl bucked hard beneath her, each thrust more powerful and urgent than the last as he fucked her to his own oblivion. He pulled her hard into his arms, wrapping them around her waist and pressing his lips to her neck, tracing the curve of her collarbone before she sat up straight and pulled herself form his lap. Hannah turned and took all of him in her mouth, moaning into the sweet taste of the release they'd just shared. Daryl leaned over and ran his tongue along her soaking lips as she was bent over in front of him, pushing his finger inside of her to feel her still pulsing walls. Hannah pulled away from him and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, moving to sit down next to him as his hand ran along her thigh. 

"That's also another reason I was interested." Hannah said quietly, wistfully. 

"What's that?"

"I took one look at you and knew you'd be good at that." She added smoothly, moving to sit on his lap. 

"Stop." He said, leaning in close and kissing at her neck. 

"Stop what?" 

"That's some bullshit." 

"Yeah? Well maybe it's why joined your group." Hannah teased, pulling on her shirt. 

"So be it." Daryl added, pinching the inside of her thigh before she pulled herself to stand and step uneasily into her jeans. Hannah balanced herself on her good foot and swatted at him, grabbing at his belt still hanging loosely around his hips when he stood. She pushed him easily against the wall and kissed him, buckling his belt blindly while he pulled her closer. 

"Or maybe it's just because I like you too much." She purred, nearly breathless and pressed up against him. 

"Either way, glad you did."


	7. Chapter 7

"What happened to him?" Hannah asked, noticing Eric laid up through a doorway across the room with Aaron at his side. The group was scattered across the large, dimly lit space, settling themselves in for the night.

"Foot got caught in something when he was out. Twisted it pretty bad." Carol answered, walking up along side her. 

"Doesn't seem right to have two people down because of their ankles." Hannah added, taking a seat on the ground and adjusting the wrap around her own injured ankle. 

"Certainly doesn't. But Eric didn't seem too worried about it. Just like what Aaron said, I guess there's a doctor in their community who's pretty good." 

"Lucky us." Hannah added, her words dripping in sarcasm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carol asked, busying herself with cleaning her gun. 

"I just mean... seems a little... too good to be a good thing to me." 

"You could very well be right. I can't really say I'm totally on board with any of this either. But I guess it's better to take a chance with where our group is. What we've been through. You know."

"Guess so." 

Carol shrugged her shoulders and stepped slowly away, walking toward Rick where he stood holding Judith and talking quietly with his son Carl. Hannah slipped her boots off and settled into a corner near the door, nearly hidden by a stack of wooden pallets from the rest of the group. She leaned against her bag and laced her fingers together behind her head, closing her eyes as she relaxed into her space. 

It was hard to imagine being exactly where she was. For the longest time, Hannah had imagined herself spending the rest of her life in solitude. Fending for herself and running out of bullets too soon, all to be lost to the very nightmares she'd been running from all along - whether they be the ones outside the walls or inside of her head. But being here now, with a group of people she could consider family, it was hard to wrap her mind around being anywhere else - especially alone. Hannah laid there for what she thought were several hours, lost in thought and lost in nothing at all, caught between boredom and random thoughts strung together at snippets of conversations she hadn't been paying any attention to. She moved her leg just so when she heard footsteps grow closer to her and a sharp pain shot up through her spine that jolted her from her thoughts, forcing a heavy hiss to come from between her teeth. 

"OW. Jesus Christ." She whispered to herself, rubbing at her tender ankle. She unwrapped it carefully and tossed the bloody shirt to the side, reaching in her own bag and tearing at another shirt. She struggled to pull herself to her feet again before Daryl came around the corner, stopping and chewing on his thumb nail. 

"Alright?" 

"I was just gonna clean it." 

"Here." He offered his hand, pulling her up and bringing her arm over his shoulders and wrapping his arm around her waist. 

"You know, I can handle a lot of things on my own - you don't have to dote." She offered playfully, squeezing the fingers he'd laced with hers. 

"Yeah, well I let you do this on your own and you'll break it for sure."

Hannah laughed and let him do his own thing, the same affection from earlier glowing deep in her gut and spreading to flush her cheeks bright red. Daryl brought her just outside, setting her down in front of another stack of pallets and bending down onto his knees. He took her leg and lifted it up, carefully pulling her sock off and inspecting the bright red wounds around her ankle and gently pressing into her swollen foot. 

"YOU need to be fucking careful." Hannah growled, nearly punching him in the jaw as her hand flew up in a sudden reflex. Daryl shook his head and poured water from his bottle over the wounds, easing his touch. 

"You need to stop bein' a damn baby." He added, teasing as she pulled her foot up and wrapped her arms around her knee, looking carefully at her injury. 

"Fuck you, you ever get your foot caught in one of those things?" She returned, giving him a hard scowl. 

"Nah. But I'll tell you what's worse is poison oak in your ass crack." Daryl said, almost like it was an everyday problem. A sudden loud laugh burst from Hannah's mouth before she pressed her face into her knee, a small wave of amused guilt sweeping over her as he gave her a look, playfully surprised at her reaction. 

"Sure, laugh now. Wait 'till it happens to you."

"How on earth did you get poison oak in your ass?" Hannah continued, laughing. 

"Got lost in the woods when I was a kid and when nature calls..."

"You used it as toilet paper?"

"Gotta learn some time." Daryl said simply, shrugging his shoulders, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth

"Oh my god." Hannah laughed, resting her forehead on her knee while Daryl wrapped her ankle again. He looked up at her and patted her thigh, signaling he was done and she scooted over. Hannah let her head rest on his shoulder for a while, the exhaustion of the day pulling her closer to unconsciousness right there with him. 

"So, how are you feeling about all of this?" Hannah asked, pulling herself out of her dazed half-sleep and crossing her legs. 

"Not sure yet. Asskicker and Carl need a place. You need a place. They got food an' water. Rather at least try than risk anything else." 

"I could probably make it, but I think you're right... It's kinda hard to believe they've had power this long, though. And running water? It's just been so long..." Daryl nodded his head and sat there, saying nothing. Hannah pulled herself to her feet and limped back toward the door, turning back toward Daryl who stayed still and looked up at her. 

"I'm gonna get some sleep." Hannah said, holding herself up with the door jam. "You should, too." 

Without another word, Daryl nodded again and reached for a half killed cigarette, relighting it and taking a long drag, never letting his eyes leave hers. Hannah's cheeks blushed bright red and she turned away from him, too conscious of the feelings she wasn't sure were reciprocated and walked back inside, taking her place back in her secluded corner. Conversations had quieted to barely whispers as Hannah leaned back again, adjusting the bag she'd been using as a pillow underneath her and struggling to get comfortable. 

Sleep seemed difficult to find as much as it was desperately needed. The hard floors and the poor excuse of a blanket kept Hannah tossing and turning for what could have been hours, the thought of having to pay the painful consequences the following day crossing her mind more than once as she turned onto her left side to face the wall. The door to the building opened and closed slowly, the latch catching softly before footsteps moved carefully across the floor and toward her space. A second later, the weight of Daryl's arm wrapped around her waist and the warmth of his body pressed against her back, bringing her close to him. 

"You seem a little more touchy feely than usual." Hannah whispered, tossing her blanket behind her and lacing her fingers with his. 

"That a problem?" 

"Hell no." Hannah smiled to herself, amused at the playful repetition. 

Hardly any time passed before Hannah relaxed into Daryl's body contoured to her own, the warmth of his arms wrapped around her comforting in all the right ways on the cold and hard cement floor. She let her thoughts wander again as she laid with him, wondering what would happen if she were to turn around and whisper in his ear the three words that had been burning in the pit of her stomach for weeks. Would he pull away and be done with her? Would he return the sentiment? Would he even react at all? And even if she did, what would come of it? Would finally being honest with him about the way he made her feel be worth it to risk potentially losing him? 

"I've got a question." Hannah whispered, slightly leaning into him.

"Hm."

"Was that somethin' you and Rick have done before?"

"What?"

"Come on."

"Oh... Uh, nah, we never done anything like that before... why? Have you?" 

"I don't know, you guys were just... really good at it." Daryl huffed a small laugh behind her and kissed her shoulder. Hannah gave a laugh along with him and turned her head slightly as he leaned forward to kiss her, his lips dry but a perfect fit for her own. 

"One more question."

"Hm." 

"You ever think about where you'd be if you hadn't found that school that day?"

"Sometimes."

"Because I do."

"Yeah?"

Hannah chewed on her lip for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of whether this was time to delve into the subject of feelings with him. 

"Yeah, and I don't like where I was headed."

"Mm."

"Not sure how long I'd have made it if our paths hadn't crossed. I'm glad I found you in that library. And I'm glad I stayed." Hannah said in barely a whisper. The need to tell him every thought resting at the back of her mind was nearly too hard to resist. She knew the words would come to her easily when the time came to speak them, but when the right time for him to hear them would come was the burning question that likely couldn't be answered - at least any time soon. 

There were still those moments when Daryl receded into his own thoughts. Losing himself under the weight of guilt that was far to heavy for her to help him lift. It was in those times that he really needed someone that he usually pushed them away - something Hannah assumed had always been his way of keeping himself from showing how vulnerable he could be.   
For that very reason, it wasn't difficult to see that Daryl had trouble letting people in and seeing him for who and what he really was. But that fact hadn't stopped Hannah from feeling safe with him. And it certainly hadn't gotten in the way of the kind of feelings she'd grown to have for him. If anything, his timidity at showing people who he was had only drawn her closer. Not to actually find out for herself, but to protect him, too. Whatever resided inside that heart of his was something she knew was worthy of protecting. He was too good, too protective. Too loving. And for some reason, at times it almost seemed like Daryl didn't feel like he was deserving of that same kind of protection. Whether that was actually true for him or not, she couldn't and probably wouldn't ever be sure, but his apprehension at opening up with anyone seemed to make that the simplest explanation. Hannah hoped and prayed she was wrong, understanding what it was like to feel herself be broken and unworthy because of what lied in the past, despite her attempt to let go of all of it. 

Regardless of where the group was or how much she had done or lost, there was still one thing Hannah simply couldn't let go of. Not the people she'd hurt or the nightmares and flashbacks that still occasionally got her heart racing. But hope. Even just laying there in a cold and smelly abandoned factory on an unforgiving cement floor wasn't enough to sever the ties she had to that one idea that maybe someday, whether it be the day that waited tomorrow or one in the distant future, their group would finally find safety. But more importantly, she couldn't let go of the hope that someday, Daryl could find it in himself to love her back. 

"Glad you stayed, too."

Hannah pulled him closer and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She swiped away the tear that had formed and pooled in the corner of her eye, hoping and praying that Daryl couldn't tell the loud sniff that quickly followed had anything to do with her subtle movement. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the feel of him breathing easily behind her, the heat of his breath warm against her neck a reminder of the effect he had on her heart.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, we're headin' out."Daryl's voice was low in Hannah's ear as she slowly found her way back to consciousness. 

"Shit, why didn't-" 

"C'mon, ten minutes." 

"Jesus, why didn't you wake me up before now?" Hannah grumbled, pulling herself slowly to sit up. She cracked and popped at the stiffness in her neck and back before she took her time to pull herself to her feet, slowly taking the straps of her bag over her shoulders. Daryl stood with a half killed cigarette smoldering between his lips and wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her out of the door and on to the waiting RV. 

"Alright everyone listen up. We're gonna keep these vehicles nice and close. I'll drive in with Aaron and Michonne. Daryl, you'll take Hannah and everyone else in the RV just behind us. We'll stop outside their gates and all go in together." 

Daryl nodded to him from where he stood leaning on the open door frame of the RV, Hannah sitting on the bottom step with her injured ankle stretched out before her. She reached up and pulled hard on his arm to hoist herself up, letting out a small laugh as she struggled to jump up onto the step of the RV. Daryl's hands took her by the waist and lifted her like she was nothing, following her closely into the shade of the RV and out of the already sweltering heat. 

"Let's get outta here." Daryl said simply, taking his seat as the RV slowly rumbled it's way to life.

***

The sun shone bright as the group poured out of the RV and onto the old, cracked pavement. A set of heavy iron gates stood before them, standing tall and guarding the community that Aaron had promised. With Daryl's help, Hannah hopped out of the RV and limped to the side of the road, her eyes glued to the solid metal walls that had to be 20 feet tall and her jaw slacked in near amazement. Daryl said nothing as he paced slightly ahead of Hannah, holding tight onto his crossbow. Aaron walked up to the gate and started to speak with the person guarding them, everyone else carefully listening before something rustled in a trashcan. Daryl turned and aimed on instinct, plunging one of his arrows into an opossum with hardly a second's reaction. 

"Brought dinner." He said with no hint of humor or sarcasm as he picked up the dead animal while everyone watched him. Hannah turned and coughed away the smile tugging at her lips, trying not to draw attention to herself as everyone started toward the gates. 

"This place looks like a goddamn magazine." Hannah said, her voice hardly a whisper as she staggered to the side trying to find her balance, her eyes glued to the immaculate homes beyond the walls. "It's too pretty in here for how long it's been." She continued, taking Daryl's arm and using him as leverage to help herself walk. 

The group gathered just inside the sturdy metal gates, the loud sounds of it's lock snapping back into place echoing across the open drive leading up to the neighborhood before them. Hannah tuned out of the conversation between Rick and the members of the neighborhood who had let them in for a moment, carefully looking across the area and taking in every detail of their surroundings. A man stood just inside the gates and headed toward them slowly, meeting them just after the gates closed. 

“Before we take this any further, I’m gonna need you all to turn over your weapons.” He said, standing before them with a shot gun nestled under his arm. “You stay, you hand ‘em over.”

“We don’t know if we wanna stay.” Rick stated firmly, his gun hanging loosely from his hand. "If we were gonna use 'em it would've started already."

Daryl stood quietly to the side, letting Hannah use him to keep herself balanced as they listened to Aaron offer the group the opportunity to meet the community’s leader Deanna. Rick turned around and looked at Sasha who stood near the back of the group, motioning his head toward the outside and simply saying her name. Sasha turned around and pulled her weapon up, killing a walker with little effort and perfect aim through the bars of the gate. 

"It's a good thing we're here."

A moment later, the group moved forward, heading into the kind of the place the seemed like it belonged more in the pages of Better Homes and Gardens than a world overrun by walking dead things. A confusing mix of unease and hope swirled around Hannah’s brain as she hobbled along Daryl’s side, already out of breath. Daryl turned to watched her struggle to walk, stopping her in her tracks and leaning down.

"Come on." He said in almost a whisper, taking all of her weight in his arms, still clutching the dead animal in his hands underneath her.

"You really don't have to do this." Hannah said quietly, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

The group continued to move forward and everyone stayed quiet as she was sure they were also struggling to accept that a place like this - the kind of place they’d been looking for - could possibly be real. It was one thing to dream and hope that it was, but to actually be in it - to be walking along it’s manicured streets and being able to touch it’s impeccably painted homes - was a whole other story. 

Aaron stopped the group just outside of a nearly immaculate grey sided house, grouping them just inside a courtyard. Hannah hopped out of Daryl's arms and leaned against the back wall to catch her breath, bending down to rub and her swollen throbbing ankle. She slid down to sit on the ground when Rick made his exit with Aaron and Daryl came to her side, taking her ankle and lifting it to look at it carefully. 

"You good?"

Hannah nodded her head when he looked at her, biting at the inside of her lip in an attempt to hide just how badly it really hurt. Members of the group shared hushed words as they started sat down in the small area, weapons still in hand and taking in their new surroundings. 

"I'm keeping my knife." Hannah finally said after she pulled her bag from her shoulders and into her lap, tucking it safely between a the two shirts she'd managed to keep for longer than she ever thought she could. 

Daryl looked over at her and bit at his thumb nail, nodding in approval as he pulled out his nearly empty pack of cigarettes. Hannah leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder, praying that any moment Rick would be back and they could find something more than aspirin to ease the pain still searing up her leg. 

The group sat for a while before Aaron finally returned, Rick just a few steps behind him. A woman pushing a cart followed just behind them and stopped in the middle of the courtyard, stepping to the side to let another woman make her entrance. 

"Hello." She said simply, smiling easily at the group in front of her. "I'm Deanna Monroe. I want to welcome each and every one of you here. To Alexandria. And I want all of you to know that you are safe here. Always."

The group remained silent, their eyes glued to the new woman standing on a stair just a few steps up from their level. Deanna looked at each one of them, carefully studying their faces and reading them before she'd even learned their names, nodding in a kind of approval that was hard to describe. 

"Before we get started and get you to your houses, you'll need to put your guns on this cart here. They're still your guns. You can check them out anytime you go beyond the walls. But inside here, we store them for safety." 

Reluctantly, everyone gave up their guns, forming an impressive pile on the cart before the dark haired woman pulled it back out of the courtyard. Carol and Rick exchanged looks after the cart and their weapons disappeared, the group making their way to the exit and on down the street. Daryl pulled Hannah to her feet just after the others left and knelt down in front of her. 

"What are you doing?" Hannah asked, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth at the ridiculousness of what she knew he was thinking. 

"Hop up." 

"You're gonna kill your back carrying me and this bag." 

"You're gonna do more damage to that damn foot if I don't. Come on, up." 

Hannah scoffed playfully and wrapped her arms around his shoulders while he took her knees in his hands and heaved their weight up, a soft grunt escaping from his throat. Hannah leaned in and kissed the back of his hair, a warm blanket of affection rolling over her as she combed her fingers through his hair, resting them at the back of his neck. 

"Why are you so good?" She whispered in his ear, kissing just behind it. Daryl looked back at her and Hannah kissed his cheek, never expecting an answer from him, knowing he could never really answer it.


	9. Chapter 9

"Holy shit, Rick." Hannah said, her jaw dropping at the man she was looking at.

"Hm?"

"I didn't know you had an actual face." She joked, pulling herself from the deep couch and limping toward where he stood in the kitchen. His jaw and cheeks were smooth and clean shaven and his hair had been trimmed, still slightly damp when she smoothed some of it back .

"I almost forgot what it was like to see it." He returned, a weak smile taking it's place on his face.

"You look good." Hannah smiled back. Rick nodded and turned to look outside.

"Where's Daryl?" Rick asked, looking out the windows.

"Deanna came by and wanted to talk to him." Rick nodded, looked down and leaned forward against the counter, obviously still trying to adjust. Hannah moved her hand to rest on his arm and leaned down to catch his gaze and smiled at him. "I think we'll be okay here. At least for a little while."

"I don't know. It's..."

"It's new. I'm not crazy about it just yet either. But we should try." She continued, tucking a lock of her dark blonde hair behind her ear. Rick didn't say anything in return but instead straightened and took a step back, rubbing at his chin just as Daryl let himself in.

"You're up. Let's go."

"I think I'm okay to walk." Hannah said, standing up straight and moving toward the door.

"You keep sayin' that an' I'm just gonna keep tellin' you 'no'."

"Might as well let him help you. Least until you figure out how bad that foot really is."

Hannah groaned, pulling at the door handle with Daryl just behind her. Before she could hobble to the steps, Daryl's hand grabbed hers and pulled her back. With one swift movement she was pressed against the siding and Daryl's hands were on either side of her shoulders.

"You wanna be here?"

"What?"

Daryl's sudden closeness nearly brought Hannah to her knees and she reached to take his arms in her hands.

"Are you okay?" She asked, lifting his chin to look at her.

"No..."

"What's wrong?" Daryl's eyes trailed away before meeting hers again while they stood there against the house. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers, Hannah's hands moving along the smooth skin of his arms. "Hey..." She continued, pulling slightly away from him.

"Just don't wanna see it all turn to shit like it always has."

"I don't want to see that either. All of this is... a lot to take in. And, for now anyway, we need to accept it." Daryl nodded slowly but didn't move at all before Hannah leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Or we need to try to."

They stood there for another moment before either of them moved, Hannah moving to stand up straight and wrapping her arms around his waist. Daryl nestled into the curve of her neck to press his lips against her skin and backed up a step, turning around and kneeling in front of her.

"Sure your back can handle me up here again?" Hannah joked, wrapping her arms around his neck as he stood up and descended the steps and made his way toward Deanna's.

"What makes you think I can't handle you, huh?

"The fact that you've insisted on carrying me almost everywhere since yesterday? You've gotta be sore and tired."

"Well, I don't want you slowin' us down. "

"Whatever." Hannah teased, pinching his chest from over his ragged shirt.

The town was quiet and hardly anyone moved along the streets, but the distant sound of children playing danced through the trees, bringing a slight smile to Hannah's face when Daryl took a turn and headed up to the same house they'd turned their guns into.

Hannah slid down back onto her feet and took Daryl's hands in hers when he turned toward her, pulling him close. She placed his hands on her waist and ran her fingers through his hair, before she smiled at him easily.

"Promise me you'll try." Hannah said softly, her eyes never leaving his. Daryl looked down for a moment and fidgeted with his fingers, his own brand of timidity too much for Hannah to resist. She pulled him into her body again and wrapped her arms around him, feeling him slightly nod his head in the curve of her neck.

"Guess I should get this over with." She finally said, stepping back away from him.

Daryl nodded again and opened the door, letting it swing open as he bent down and lifted Hannah up to pull her arm around his shoulder. He helped her inside carefully, leading her to the same room she imagined he'd paced back and forth in earlier, Deanna waiting patiently next to the window.

"Thank you." Hannah said quietly after she sat down, trailing her hand down Daryl's back as he turned and left the room.

The door closed with a click behind him and Deanna moved to the couch in front of her, taking a seat and settling back into the cushions.

"Hi. You must be Hannah...?"

"White." Hannah said quietly, feeling awkward at not knowing what else to say.

"Do you mind if I record this?"

"Go ahead. Are you making an archive or something?"

"No, but that's certainly something I'd be willing to do with it. I'm sure the generations after us would find them interesting."

"I guess so, yeah."

"What happened? To your foot?"

"I got it caught in an old animal trap hidden in some leaves the other day."

"We have a good doctor here. I'm sure he'll be able to help with it." Deanna offered, nodding her head. Hannah nodded back and said nothing, the silence between them growing stranger the more time went by, keeping her eyes down and focused on fidgeting with the hem of her jeans.

"What did you do before all of this?"

Hannah looked up slowly and took a deep breath, trying to connect with her old self after all of this time. It was difficult to think that life used to be normal. That college loans, traffic and the annoyingly persistent office aid used to be the biggest stressors of her day instead of the worry of where she'd find a meal or when a dead person would be waiting around the corner. Deanna watched her as she thought for a moment and Hannah bit lightly at the inside of her cheek, unsure if it really mattered what she was before any of this brought the world to a crumbled pile of ruin. That's not who she was now.

"Is it important?"

"I believe it is. I was a congress woman and it's helped get this place organized and functional. My husband was a professor of architecture and he designed and built the walls that protect this entire community. What we were - who we were - before the turn is very important."

"I was an attorney. For a group of hospitals in Atlanta."

"Quite the position for a young woman. You're what, mid-twenties?"

"29... I think my birthday passed a few weeks ago, but.. who can be sure." Hannah said solemnly, shaking her head slowly. "I'd only been practicing about two years when everything happened."

"Did you like it?"

"I did. I handled mostly malpractice suits, but it was a good job. I was good at it."

Deanna gave Hannah a slight smile and pulled one of her legs underneath her, still watching her closely, taking in every detail she could.

"Do you want to be here, Hannah?"

The answer, Hannah knew, was yes. But the more important question was if she was comfortable. That answer was overwhelmingly no. The surroundings were too unfamiliar, the people were too new.

"Yes. I do. This is the kind of place I think they've been looking for. Some place safe. Some place with walls. With food. Place to sleep without having do it with one eye open."

"What do you mean, 'they'?"

"I've only been with them a few weeks. Maybe a month or a little longer."

"When did they find you? Or you them?

"Daryl found me. I was held up in a school that he found me out on a run. Neither of us were in a good place, emotionally. Too exhausted. Too tired from carrying too much on our shoulders for too long."

"Were you alone?"

"Yeah. For a few months. Just kind of wandering. After he found me, he brought me back to his group. I think it's helped both of us to be honest."

"Daryl is a good man. Guarded, but good nonetheless."

"Yes, he is."

"I assign everyone a job here. We all have our responsibilities to make this place run the way it does."

"Okay?"

"What do you think would suit him best?"

Hannah sat for a moment to think. Not knowing how to completely answer the question. Daryl was guarded for a reason, and it was hard to imagine him doing anything because he was 'assigned' to do it. He was good on his own or with a select few doing what needed to be done, but he wasn't the kind for group activities.

"I honestly don't know how to answer that question. I don't know him very well, but I think I know him well enough he's not good with groups of people watching every move he makes. He doesn't share how he's feeling and he definitely wouldn't even if you asked. But he cares about us. He'd do anything for us."

"What about you? What do you think you'd be best suited for?"

"Right now? Probably nothing. Kind of hard to get anything done, or quickly anyway, when you can barely walk." Hannah offered, pointing at her swollen ankle, making sure to keep her tone light. Just the mention of it made her foot throb even harder and pain pulse up through her leg and up her spine. Deanna paused again, smiling and nodding at Hannah's sarcasm.

"What did you mean when you said... that neither of you were in a good place emotionally?"

"It's rough out there. You lose people. Or they take advantage of you. Sometimes they turn into something that's... hardly human. And you have to deal with that however you can. And whatever it is you have to do, does things to you. Changes you."

"I think your group came here at just the right time, then... I firmly believe that this place, that these people, all of us, can build something here. I think you've got a lot to give."

Hannah sat completely still, her eyes cemented to the floor to let Deanna's words sink in. She hadn't really given any revelations to who she was or what her angles were, but Hannah didn't feel like pressing. The day had been long and the pain was distracting enough that she didn't care at this point. Whatever happened here would happen regardless of what she could do about it. The most Hannah could do now was be thankful for the walls and whatever Alexandria had to offer, even if just for a night or two.

Deanna pulled herself from the couch and leaned over the faux antique table between them, offering Hannah her hand.

"Thank you, Hannah."

"I think it's me that should be thanking you. You let us in here." Hannah returned, taking her hand. Deanna gave her a knowing smile and walked over to the door to open it, looking down at Daryl sitting on the floor. Hannah looked over and saw his leg move out of sight as he picked himself up and came back into view a second later. She pulled herself from her seat and limped toward the doorway, Daryl's arm wrapping around her shoulders and underneath her arms, picking up most of her weight as she tried to walk.

"Pete is our doctor here. He should still be right across the street there. Head over and he'll take a look at you."

"Thank you." Hannah said quietly, wincing as she bent her ankle in just the wrong way.

Daryl opened the door and the two descended the stairs before they sat down. He pulled one of his last ragged cigarettes out and put it between his lips, sucking hard as he lit it.

"Pass the test?" He said quietly, smoke puffing from between his lips.

"I don't know, I guess? She didn't hand me a report card."

"Don't gotta be a shit about it." He joked, nudging her with his elbow.

"I just hope that the doctor here has something for this pain because fuck. I think I'd be able to walk on it if it didn't hurt so damn bad."

"And THAT is why I won't let you walk anywhere." Daryl said, nodding at himself for being right.

"Stop it." Hannah chided, giving him a playful shove.

"What'd she ask you?"

"Basics. What I wanted to do as a job around here, what I did for a living before all of this."

"What was that?" Daryl asked, looking easily at her and rubbing his chin.

"What?"

"What you did."

"Oh. I was an attorney."

Daryl reared back in surprise and looked Hannah up and down, clearly not believing what she'd said.

"What? Is it so hard to believe?"

"Just... not what I expected."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know..."

Hannah laughed and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What? Did you think I was a stripper or something? Maybe one who dabbled in prostitution?"

"Nah. I don't even know what I thought." Daryl conceded, taking one last drag of his cigarette and tossing it to the ground.

"Mind if we go over there now? This thing is killing me." Hannah asked, rubbing her hand along Daryl's arm.

Daryl heaved himself from his seat and offered his hand, pulling Hannah up and scooping her into his arms. A soft grunt escaped from his throat before she draped her arm over his shoulders as they started across the street. Before they had even reached the steps, the grey door opened and a tall blonde man appeared, giving them a strange smile when Daryl took his first step up toward the door.

"Hey, come in." The man said, opening the door all the way and lending room for Daryl to turn sideways. "How about you have her sit up there." He continued, pointing toward a kitchen counter. Daryl obliged and set Hannah down on the cool marble counter top, the chill of it sending goose bumps across her skin. She looked around the room as the doctor looked through a closet in the hallway behind her, wrapping her arms around herself while she tried to get used to the cold counter top underneath her. The room had little as far as furniture, a bed stood along one wall next to a large glass paned cabinet, rows of medicine bottles lined up one after the other and a few barstools tucked under the counter. Daryl pulled one of them out and sat down, pulling himself up to rest his elbows on the counter just next to her thigh.

"I'm Pete, by the way" The doctor said a moment later as he came back into view with tray covered in ace bandages, rubbing alcohol and gauze pads. "What happened?"

"Old bear trap buried in some leaves." Hannah said, wincing as Pete slowly unwrapped her ankle, the fabric pulling at her skin and the dried blood. The four wounds around her ankle were deep red and angry, throbbing and searing when Hannah looked at them. Pete pressed gently along her ankle, paying close attention to each individual wound.

"The concern here is tetanus. Do you by chance remember when you might have gotten a tetanus shot?" He asked plainly, lowering her leg to hang from the counter.

"It hasn't been very long. Maybe two or three years? I stepped on a nail a couple years ago."

"Good. Luckily we have a few bottles just in case. One of the guys swiped 'em from a doctor's office a few months ago. We've got some crutches, too."

"Do you think I need it? A tetanus?"

"I think it'd be the best way to go."

Hannah nodded and Pete got up and riffled around the medicine cabinet, pulling out a bottle and loading a needle before he returned to her.

"Do you think it's broken?" She asked, watching Pete give her the shot and set the syringe in his tray.

"That I'm not so sure about. It does look like it's displaced a bit, so what I'd like to do is go ahead and try to reset it... which will not be pleasant."

"Alright well let's get it over with then." Hannah said as she looked over at Daryl while he fidgeted absently with his fingers, combing her hand through his hair before resting it on his arm.

"I'm going to stitch these up first then I'll reset it. I'll put you on some antibiotics for a week or so and you'll want to keep this thing elevated." Pete continued, reaching into one of the kitchen drawers and pulling out a long curved needle and a spool of thin, black suture wire.

"How do you guys have all of this? After all this time?" Hannah asked, in awe.

"Deanna's son Spencer goes on runs. Swiped a lot of it from offices and hospitals."

Hannah nodded her head and turned to look at Daryl before he rested his forehead on her thigh, his arm stretched out behind her.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I can get back from here. He said he's got crutches."

"Nah, I'll stay." He said simply, his voice just above a whisper.

The slight pinch at the prick of a needle caught Hannah off guard as Pete numbed the skin around her ankle and started the process of closing her up, the feel of each pull of the suture thread it's own strange sensation. Pete moved quickly and finished by wrapping fresh gauze around her injured ankle before he stood up, moving his tray of materials to another counter before rolling up his sleeves.

"Alright. Worst part. I need you to lie down and grab hold of the edge of the counter. I'm going to have to take a really tight hold of your leg and foot and twist and pull your foot to get it back where it needs to be."

Hannah laid down and let her hand rest on her stomach while taking a firm grip of the cool marble with the other and sucked a deep breath. She winced at the squeeze of Pete's large hand wrapping around the tender, injured ankle and squeezed her eyes shut, tears already stinging at her eyes. Pete rolled her foot in either direction slowly, carefully listening to the sounds of her joint.

"Okay. You ready?"

Hannah nodded her head and said 'yes' as calmly as she could, a single tear already falling back into her hair. Daryl placed his hand on top of hers for a second before taking it in his, letting her wrap her fingers around his in preparation of the kind of pain she could never be ready for. A second later, with a sharp snap of her joint, Pete forced her ankle back into place and a wave of searing, throbbing pain to shot up Hannah's leg. Hannah cried out at the sudden jolt and pulled away, her chest heaving as the pain stole the breath her lungs.

"HOLY SHIT!" Hannah shouted, sitting bolt upright.

"Told you you wouldn't enjoy that." He added, tightly wrapping her foot in an ace bandage.

"Yeah, no shit."

"Like I said before, keep it elevated. Come by again in a few days and I'll take a look at how it's healing."

"Think I can handle that."

"Alright, well we're done, then. There are some crutches over by the door, pick whichever ones feel best. They're easy to change the heights on."

"Ok. Thanks." Hannah said, sliding off of the counter onto her good foot. Daryl got up with her and she grabbed his hand, steading herself and limping toward the door. Daryl grabbed a couple of crutches and they were outside a second later, the warmth welcome for the first time in months.

"Jesus, it was fucking freezing in there." Hannah said, hopping down the steps into the sun.

"Somethin' I thought I'd never hear from you."

Hannah let out a short laugh and took the crutches from Daryl, adjusting each one to her height and the two started down the street, the same sounds of playing children catching them from a distance. The quiet between them was comforting, Hannah thought as they made their way slowly to the house Aaron had led them to. It was strange that, at least to Hannah, the silence between herself and Daryl often said more than what any words could. Hannah looked over at him and a smile tugged at her lips as she blushed just thinking about being close to him.

The feelings themselves were different than with anyone before. Looking back and comparing how she'd felt in every relationship, Hannah could tell this one, even if it wasn't a relationship, was better than any other one she'd been involved in. There was a level of understanding and security that she had with Daryl that was completely unrivaled. The idea that she could have found someone like him in world like this seemed unimaginable, and the fact that he could have such an affect on her was just as exhilarating as it was terrifying.

"What the hell is that all about?" Daryl asked suddenly, a sense of amusement in his tone and taking Hannah by surprise.

"Huh?"

"That smile on your face."

"Uh, am I not allowed to smile?"

"Not what I meant."

"Do I need a reason?" Hannah teased, stopping to playfully swat at his arm. "God, these things are awful." She continued, standing for another moment to relieve the discomfort under her arms.

Daryl stopped and turned around, bending over and scooping her into his arms and continuing down the street. Hannah rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and gently massaging his scalp.

"That's not what I was hinting at, but thank you." She whispered, kissing behind his ear before he turned to look at her. He kissed her back and adjusted her body in his arms, his chest heaving as he turned the corner and the house coming into view.

Daryl climbed the steps when they came to the house and set Hannah back on her feet. A moment later Rick opened the door and stepped onto the porch, Carol following just behind him. Daryl moved over to the side of the porch and sat down, clasping his hands around his knees. Hannah went to stand next to him, leaning on the white railing and crossing one leg over the other.

"Is it alright?" Rick asked, squatting down to take a look at her newly bandaged foot, Carol stepping over and leaning against the siding.

“The doctor had to reset it and I’ve got about forty stitches, but it’ll be alright in a couple days.”

“Good. It already looks better.”

“Already feels better.”

“We’re all staying here tonight. They gave us two houses, but I don’t like that they’re separating us just yet.”

“It’ll be strange when the time comes we all start sleeping in our own beds.” Hannah added, a slight smile pulling at her lips.

Rick gave a small laugh and opened the door and held it, waiting for everyone to file inside, Daryl following closely behind Hannah and joining her in the corner of the room. Blankets and pillows lay strewn across the floor, each member of the group claiming their own place for the night as the sky turned dark outside.

“This is so weird.” Hannah whispered more to herself than to anyone else.

“What is?” Daryl asked, leaning his crossbow against the wall to his left.

“I don’t know, all of this… It’s just- weird being in a place like this. It’s like nothing ever happened. Like there aren’t dead things walking around just fifty yards from here.”

Daryl nodded and turned toward her, leaning his elbow on the window sill and crossing one leg in front of him. Hannah pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her back on the window pane behind her, looking easily over at the man she knew she could never be without. Something about his quiet reserve, the calm skepticism he used to shelter the openness of his heart always left her breathless and wanting, no matter how close he tended to be with her.

“Thank you.” She whispered to him, lacing her fingers with his.

“For what?”

Hannah nodded her head and smiled easily, not really sure what she was thanking him for this time, just knowing it was better to say this than the other three words that seemed to have latched themselves onto every thought that crossed her mind.

“For today. For everyday.”

Daryl nodded in return, looking up at her before a soft knock came from the front door. Half of the group stood from their places, Daryl included, until Deanna stepped just inside.

“Wow.” She said when Rick held the door open, a look of surprise painted across her face as she nodded. “I didn’t know what was under there… I don’t mean to interrupt, I just wanted to stop by and see how you all were settling-“

Deanna paused mid-sentence and looked around the room, a gentle, knowing smile spreading across her face at the crowded space and the fifteen people who had yet to get themselves fully situated.

“Oh my. Staying together. Smart.”

“No one said we couldn’t.” Rick added.

“You said you were a family. That’s what you said. It’s absolutely amazing to me how people with completely different backgrounds and nothing in common can become that. Don’t you think?”

“Everyone said you gave ‘em jobs.”

Hannah looked back at Daryl and gave him a look of question, wondering if Deanna had given him a job despite having asked her what she thought would suit him. Daryl shook his head slightly, answering the question she didn't need to ask while Deanna spoke.

“You didn’t give me one.” Rick continued, leaning on the open door.

“I have. I just haven’t told you yet. Same with Michonne. And Hannah. Closing in on something for Sasha.” Deanna added, turning to look at her across the room. “And I’m just trying to figure Mr. Dixon out. But I will.”

Deanna nodded in approval and turned to leave and Rick closed the door behind her, looking across the room at the family he’d protected without question and without regret. No one said a word as they all silently took their places again, everyone still coming to terms with their new surroundings and unsure of whether or not they could trust this place.

Michonne turned out the lights and Hannah settled into the corner, wrapping herself in a blanket that still smelled like a department store, Daryl taking his place to her right. The quiet and dark of the room nearly swallowed Hannah whole as she sat there leaning into Daryl’s shoulder, her mind racing, pulling her thoughts in a thousand different directions. Hours seemed to pass as everyone drifted to sleep, Hannah staring out into the dark room as Daryl’s head lay heavily on top of hers, his breathing slow and relaxed while he slept.

A moment later, Rick sat up straight and stood up, stepping out of the room and into the kitchen, Hannah watching closely as he slowly opened one of the drawers. He stood there a moment and pulled out a knife, feeling the weight of it's handle in the palm of his hand and the exact same sense unease and relief that pulled at every nerve in Hannah’s body. The promise of a place like Alexandria had to come with some kind of strings and Hannah could see that Rick was having the same conflicting ideas. He stood there a while before he returned to the living room, Hannah watching aimlessly before the pull of exhaustion weighed too heavily, both of them falling into an uneasy slumber, unsure of what tomorrow would bring.


	10. Chapter 10

Hannah sat easily on the front porch, the morning sun already bright and warm despite being in the shade. The mug in her hand was already empty for the third time and her hands started to tremble, the effects of too much caffeine in too little time almost embarrassing as she folded them in her lap. Daryl joined her a moment later, leaning his crossbow just next to him as the others filed out the door. 

“They said explore, let’s explore.” Rick said, inviting Daryl and Hannah along with him. 

“Nah, I’ll stay.” Daryl said quietly, Hannah nodding her head with him.

“Alright… Lori and me.. we used to drive through neighborhoods like this. Thinkin’ one day…”

“Well, here we are.” Daryl added after Rick's sentence trailed off, closing his ankles and wrapping his arms around his knees. Rick nodded and walked down the street, the sudden absence of the group feeling strangely freeing. 

Like almost every other moment the two shared together, Hannah could feel her heart start to race, knowing it had absolutely nothing to do with the coffee. It was the feeling of complete safety that nearly brought Hannah to her knees, and the idea that Daryl could possibly feel even remotely the same about her brought a sense of both worry and unexpected promise to the forefront of her mind. 

“Daryl…” Hannah said quietly, setting her mug on the floor. 

“Hm?” The sound low and gritty in his throat when he looked over at her. 

“Can we go inside?” She asked, already feeling the nerves twist and pull at her stomach. 

Without a word, Daryl pulled himself up and offered Hannah his hand. She heaved herself from her place and followed him inside, limping like the day before, although with much less pain. 

Daryl stopped at the kitchen counter and Hannah kept walking, heading towards the stairs and slowly making her way to the second floor. Daryl followed behind her, holding his hand easily at her waist, if only to prove to her he was still with her. Hannah swallowed hard and kept going, ignoring the unease pitting in her stomach at the idea of finally having the courage to ask him what she’d been dying to ask him since the very beginning. 

Hannah continued down the hall and closed the door behind them, twisting the lock on the door before she sat down on the bed. Daryl stood and watched her carefully as she crossed her legs and tucked one hand in between her knees.

“I wanted to ask you something.” She said, her voice nearly shaking. 

Daryl said nothing and took a small step forward, shoving one of his hands into his pocket, waiting for Hannah to continue. She chewed at her lip and swallowed hard again, feeling the heat of tears burning behind her eyes for no other reason than the fear of uncertainty. 

“I… wanted to know why you brought me with you.”

“Huh?”

“That morning at the school. Why did you bring me with you?” 

Daryl shifted his weight onto his other foot and scratched at the back of his arm, a look of question crossing his face before he answered. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You were alone.”

“Is that why? Because I was by myself?”

“Just ask what you really wanna ask. Don’t need this ‘beat around the bush’ shit.” Daryl added, catching on to the direction Hannah’s questions were going. 

“I want to know if you care about me.” Hannah blurted before she could filter the thought. Her face immediately flushed red and she dropped her face into her hand, squeezing her eyes shut. Daryl stayed silent and still for a moment, the lack of reaction forcing tears to fall as she continued to bite hard at her lower lip. 

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, turning away and facing the window, her eyes still closed. “I shouldn’t have brought it u-“

Hannah’s sentence was cut off by the feel of Daryl’s hand on her knee, his weight slightly jostling her as he knelt on both knees in front of her and rest his hands on the tops of her legs. 

“Course I do.” He said, looking up at her. Hannah turned back toward him, tears still falling slowly down her cheek. “Makes you think I don’t?”

“I don’t… I mean, I know you’re not the most upfront person with how you feel… and I don’t ever want you to think that I need for you to change that part of you. But- I just wan-… I need to know that what I feel isn’t one sided.” She finally said, much more eloquently than she ever could have expected. Daryl moved his hand along her thigh and nestled it warmly just in front of her hip, looking up at her with a kind of expression she hadn’t seen before. One she could look at every second for the rest of her life and still never get enough of. 

“It ain’t.” He said simply, uncrossing her legs and moving to kiss her. "It definitely ain't." 

Daryl moved and brought himself to her level, pressing his lips against hers and bringing his hand to hold easily along her neck. Hannah relaxed into the feel of him, kissing him back and moving her tongue between his lips, savoring the taste of him for every second that she could. 

"Daryl wait..." Hannah said, pulling away from him slowly. His eyes met hers and he sat down next to her, leaning back on his hands. Hannah took the buttoned edge of his vest and held it a moment, feeling the smooth worn leather between her fingers before she said anything else. "I want you to know something. And I don't want you to think that I expect more from you than you're willing to give, but... I need you to know that, whatever happens here, in this place. Whatever happens to me or to you or anything we have here between us, I love you." Hannah breathed a heavy sigh, feeling a mix of both relief and nervousness before she looked back up at him. "I'm sorry it's blunt and sudden and I hope it doesn't push you away from me. That's the last thing I want... And I don't expect you to want to just jump into something with me just because of how I feel. I'm okay with exactly where we are... I just had to tell you."

Hardly a moment passed between them before Daryl moved his hand to hold her at the curve of her neck and shoulder, Hannah's body already reacting to his touch. She looked back at him and the corner of his mouth hooked upward, bringing a warm smile to her face before he sat up and brought her body into his own. Daryl wrapped his arms around Hannah's shoulders and kissed behind her ear, his breath hot along her neck before he moved again to look at her. 

"You sure you're up for bein' my girl?" He said softly, pressing his forehead to hers. A single tear fell down Hannah's cheek and she closed her eyes, feeling every muscle in her body relax as the kind of pure happiness she had never experienced before swept over her. 

"I don't want to be anyone else's." Hannah said in a near whisper, breathless and taken before she could even finish the sentence. Their lips met and Daryl took Hannah by her waist to move her further onto the bed, kicking off his shoes while she fumbled with his belt. His pants were off seconds later, quickly followed by his vest and shirt before he pulled at Hannah's thin grey shirt, working the clasp of her bra with ease to reveal her breasts to the cool air of the room. 

Daryl sat back on his heels and pulled at Hannah's jeans, tossing them to the floor and kissing her stomach. He worked his way toward her breast and took her nipple between his lips, moving his tongue in luscious, teasing circles. Hannah ran her fingers through his hair and arched her back into his body, aching and begging to feel him inside of her, knowing it was the only way to make all of this feel real. Daryl's mouth left her and he moved to bring himself between her legs, running his hands along the smooth skin of her thighs and leaning in close to kiss her again. He slipped his fingers into the soft fabric of her panties and she moved to help him pull them off, letting them fall silently to the floor among the rest of their clothes. 

"Give me all of you." Hannah whispered into Daryl's kiss, grabbing blindly at the elastic band around his hips keeping his growing erection hidden from her. She pulled them from his hips and he kicked them off, wasting no time in running his fingers along the tender, slick folds between her legs. Hannah's breath left her in quick, urgent bursts and she looked down between them, watching as he pushed his fingers inside of her, teasing her walls and only making her want him more. 

Daryl leaned down and teased her clit with his tongue, moving his fingers in and out of her before he finally straightened back up, lining himself up at her entrance. Hannah held the backs of her knees and moaned into the smooth feel of every inch of him filling her, Daryl looming over her as he steadied his arms to either side of her. 

"Holy shit, yes." Hannah breathed, running her hands along his ribs. 

"You can make all the noise you want, this time." Daryl joked, pinching lightly at her hip. "Don't think they'll be back for a while." 

"Mm, I don't even fucking care." 

Without a second passing by, Daryl thrust his hips hard into hers and moved with a new kind of vigor. One that felt nearly impossible to keep up with as he pumped hard and fast, hungry grunts and moans escaping from him. Hannah brought her hands up to move along the hard muscles of his arms and across his shoulders, bringing his face to hers and tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth. She tightened herself around him and his breath caught in his chest, droplets of sweat starting to bead along his forehead. Daryl straightened up and took Hannah's legs in his hands, moving both of them to one side and pulling himself from inside of her. She moved to try to get on her knees when he stopped her, instead turning her onto her side and spooning himself behind her back. 

Daryl lifted Hannah's leg and pushed himself back into her slick walls, quickly finding his rhythm again and holding tight to her waist. Hannah let him bring his arm beneath her head and ran her hand along his lean muscle, bringing his finger to her lips. His other hand ran along the smooth skin of her ribs, sending waves of goosebumps across her body before pulling and teasing her nipple. 

"Oh my god, Dar-" Hannah choked, biting at her lip. "Holy shit, I'm gonna come." She breathed, letting her head lean back, their cheeks touching, Daryl responded with a wanting moan in her ear and kissed her cheek. Hannah took the hand she was resting on and laced her fingers between his, holding tight to him as the first blissful wave of release pulled at every last muscle. 

"Shit, that's it, huh?" Daryl breathed, quickening his pace. All Hannah could do was breathe a slew of wanting nothings, her eyes closed as she gave in to the feel of every inch of him. Daryl bucked his hips harder behind her before he stopped suddenly, pulling himself away from her and lying on his back. Hannah rolled onto her stomach and kissed him, wrapping her hand around his girth and stoking him slowly. 

Daryl traced his hand along her thigh and across the curve of her hip, finally finding her excited bud and teasing her with his fingertips. Hannah pulled away from him and sat back, bringing her leg across his lap to straddle him, hissing at the heavenly feel of his tip waiting eagerly to push inside of her again. Daryl bit hard at his lip while he watched her taunt him, reaching up to take both of her nipples between his fingers. 

"Come on, don't do this to me." Daryl breathed, moving his swollen tip along the slick folds he desperately needed to be inside of. Hannah smiled at him and leaned down, pressing her chest against his and kissing along his neck, nipping at his collar bone just as she finally gave him what he wanted. She moved agonizingly slow on top of him, making sure to tighten herself around him as she brought herself up and back down into his lap before he grabbed at her hips. 

"This bullshit's killin' me." He grunted, bringing his legs up underneath her and wrapping his arms around her. 

Hannah let out an easy laugh and kissed him, bracing herself just in time as Daryl started to buck his hips beneath her. His voice caught in quick, sharp grunts in her ear that nearly pushed her over the edge, the feel of his hands on either side of her waist sending waves of goosebumps across her skin. Daryl moved one of his hands between them and pressed his fingers into her clit, her chest immediately flushing bright red and sweeping the air from her lungs in a harsh gasp. 

"God, don't sto-" Hannah breathed, closing her eyes and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Oh fuc- Daryl I-" 

Hannah struggled to find her words, her brain blinded and dazed as he fucked harder beneath her, the soft sounds of their movement filling the room. Collapsing into Daryl's arms, Hannah could focus on nothing but the ecstasy of everything that Daryl was with her. Nothing else seemed to matter in that moment and the world seemed to simply fade away, her eyes closing as she felt her body give into him, weak and unable to control the sounds escaping her throat. 

"Jesus Christ." Daryl breathed, pounding his hips harder into hers, his muscles flexing and his body tensing beneath her. He brought his hand up to the curve of Hannah's neck and brought her face up to look at him, kissing her hard before tearing himself away and biting at his lip. 

"Come for me." Hannah whispered, using every ounce of strength she had to tighten her walls around him. "I want you to come for me." 

Just the sound of Hannah's voice was enough for Daryl to come undone and he thrust hard into her one last time, pulling her body into his own as a long, satisfying moan bellowed from deep in his belly and into her ear. Hannah brought her lips to his and kissed him, running her hands through his dark hair. Daryl still moved achingly slow beneath her, his breath warm along her neck as she kissed along his jaw and behind his ear, her arms resting easily on either side of him. 

"I love you, Daryl." Hannah said in a soft whisper before she kissed just behind his ear again and moved to sit up, dragging her hands along his skin to rest on his chest. "It's okay if you don't say anything. It's just nice to finally have the guts to say it." 

Daryl brought his hands up along her waist and pulled her into his embrace again, kissing her cheek and holding her close, letting her wrap her arms around his neck. Something in his touch had said every word it seemed he was too afraid to say himself and Hannah relaxed into him, happy enough to just be with him and that he finally knew exactly how she felt about him. 

"Love you." He returned in a whisper that was more air than sound and barely audible. Hannah froze for a second and let his nearly silent words sink in, the pit of her stomach dropping and the heat of tears stinging at the backs of her eyes. She hugged her arms tighter around Daryl's neck and let the tears fall, consumed in a kind of affection she had never experienced with anyone before and one that she knew she would never get enough of. She gave in to the feel of his hands moving smoothly along her back and slowly backed away from him, picking herself up off of him and backing off of the bed. Daryl followed and sat at the edge, taking in all of her naked form as she came back to sit on his lap, letting his arm rest across her lap as his hand held warmly at her hip. She kissed him deep and slow and pulled away just enough to press her forehead to his, both of their eyes closed while they sat there in silence with her arm draped around his shoulders. 

"I mean it." Daryl said, his voice low and gritty, looking directly into her eyes. 

"I mean it, too." Hannah returned, giving him a small, but warm smile. She kissed his cheek and hugged him again, feeling dazed and nearly out of breath. Time seemed to stand still in that moment while they held one another, completely consumed and taken by the other's touch.

"You've helped me in ways you'll never understand." Hannah added, holding her hand at the curve of his neck, smiling easily at him. Daryl said nothing as he sat there with her, but instead gave her a nod in loving understanding, chewing gently at the inside of his lip before a knock at the door took them both by surprise. 

"Daryl?" Carol's voice said from behind the door. 

"Hang on." Hannah said quickly, sliding off of Daryl's lap and quickly stepping into her pants. She slipped into her shirt just as Daryl pulled his pants up and gave her a nod, giving permission to reach for the handle. 

"Is he in there with y- oh." She said, her sentence cut short at the sight of him getting dressed across the room. "I guess he is."

Hannah gave her a flat smile and sat down, crossing her legs and watching Carol as she looked from herself to Daryl and back. 

"And I guess I owe an apology for interrupting?"

"Nah, you're good." Daryl said just as Hannah shook her head, tucking her hands between her crossed legs.

"I want to be invisible." Carol said simply, folding her arms just under her chest. 

"What?" Hannah and Daryl questioned in unison, lost to the context. 

"The easiest way to get the real story on this place and the people here is for me to blend in. Become one of them."

"Like espionage?" Hannah offered, amused at the idea.

"Think that'll work?" He asked, biting at one of his thumbnails. 

"I think so. They don't know what it's like out there so that makes them weak. And, for lack of a better word, stupid. If I play it innocent enough, they'll never see it coming."

"Geez, you make it sound like you're going to murder them all in their sleep." Hannah joked, earning a small but proud smile from Carol. 

"No. Just willing to do what's necessary."

Daryl and Hannah said nothing but instead just nodded their heads in understanding and picked themselves up, moving toward the door and making their way downstairs. Before she could get half way down the stairs and just as Daryl rounded the corner out of sight, Hannah felt Carol's hand on her shoulder and turned around. 

"I need to ask you something and want you to be completely honest with me." Carol said quietly, crossing her arms in front of her. 

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"No. But is that serious?" 

Hannah gave her a blank look and leaned against the wall, unsure if she was ready or willing to divulge the reality what had just happened behind a closed and locked door with Daryl. The instinct of needing to protect what she had with him kicked in and Hannah bit her lip before she looked at Carol's expression, hoping that what she was seeing was a woman who wanted just as much to protect him as she did. 

"Yes." Hannah said simply, letting go of the automatic reaction to be defensive and instead just giving her the answer she was looking for. "It is."

Carol watched Hannah carefully, relaxing back against the wall. 

"Ok.' She said, nodding her head slowly. "Well. He's good person. Make sure you help him see that."

"I know." Hannah returned. "I tell him that every chance I get."

Carol gave her an odd look and turned to go downstairs, leaving Hannah on her own before she spoke up again.

"Carol, wait." She said, trying to keep herself quiet as Carol turned from her place on the stairs. "I know- I know you care about him. Maybe more than that. But... so do I." 

"I know." Carol said, almost sweetly, in understanding. She turned back and walked down the stairs, disappearing toward the back of the house and leaving Hannah alone and curious. 

She'd been with the group long enough to know most of the dynamics between everyone - or at least she felt she had. In that time, she'd figured that there had been some sort of mutual appreciation between Daryl and Carol. But just how deep it was, Hannah hadn't quite seen - at least until today when Carol stepped foot into the bedroom to see the two of them putting their clothes on. But even as fearful as it was to think that there may be the possibility of a bit of competition, Hannah couldn't help but feel in the deepest part of herself that this was a kind of blessing in disguise. She wasn't the only one willing to do what it took to keep him safe, and that fact alone was comforting enough for her to breathe a sigh of careful relief and return downstairs herself.


	11. Chapter 11

"Surprised to see you out here." Rick's voice said from just behind Hannah as she walked slowly down the street, taking in the surroundings. 

"I figured I should move this thing a bit." 

"That what the doctor told you?"

"The exact opposite." Hannah joked, squinting into the sun as she looked at Rick.

"Fair enough." Rick laughed, falling in step with her as they rounded the corner. "Looks better."

"God, it's like night and day." 

"So you and Daryl, huh?"

Hannah blushed and turned away from him to look down another side street, unsure if she was ready or not to tell him anything.

"To be fair, I already kinda knew." He continued, waiting for her to look back at him. 

"There's your answer, I guess." Hannah finally said, too timid to give him anything else. As much as she realized that what she had with Daryl wasn't a new thing, somehow the events of the morning seemed to make everything between them different. It was one thing to be in love with him, but it was whole other to have everyone else know it. 

"Look, I get it." Rick said, taking her arm gently in his hand and stopping her. "The only reason I ask is because he also told me." 

"He told you? When?"

"That night after the three of us... You were already asleep when I stepped outside and he was out there."

"That's when he chose to tell you?"

"Said seein' you with someone else was when it hit 'em. I'm thinkin' that'll be the first and only time we do that."

"Well, he told you before he told me... I'm not so sure he would have told me if I hadn't have asked him. But I think you're exactly right. Not that it wasn't fun, but... You know."

"Yeah, I know... but what makes you think he wouldn't tell you on his own?" 

"It's not like he's an open book." 

"True, but.. from what he told me, he was lookin' at tellin' you a while ago. Even before all of us... you know."

"He tell you why he didn't?"

"Just waitin' for the right time... but like you said, not an open book. He's not the kind to something like that before he really knows it." 

It took all she had for Hannah not to melt into the asphalt, feeling her stomach flutter and her heart start to race at just the thought that Daryl could have possibly felt the same all along, held back only by his quiet nature and the uncertainty of living in a world where nothing and no one were ever safe. 

"He tell you yet?" Rick asked easily, bringing his hand to her shoulder. 

"Yeah... just a little bit ago."

"Good. It's about time. Think I mighta known before he even knew himself."

"How so?"

"I don't really know, I just... it's how he keeps you close, takes good care of you. The way he looks at you. He does a good job keepin' himself hidden. But he's my brother. I like to think I know him well enough to read him." 

"Quite a talent. He's tough." 

"Right you are. And that's one thing I think you're learning pretty quickly." Rick laughed, rubbing his hand along his jaw. "But he's come a long way. Least from when I met him."

"How do you mean?"

"He's just... grown up. He wasn't the nicest guy at the beginning. Aggressive and quick to judge. But his brother Merle put him through some shit. Made him make some difficult choices. And he's lost a lot... we all have..." Rick's voice had fallen to just above a whisper as he watched his feet while they walked. "He's done a lot for me... He's done a lot for everyone." 

"It's hard knowing that he doesn't see what we do. He's so deserving of everything and he shies away from it..."

"Think he's just tired of losing things he cares about."

"I am, too. I think I dealt with it enough before he found me."

Rick looked over at her and waited for her to go on as they came up to a bench along the street, both of them taking a seat. Hannah crossed her legs and let her hands fall to her lap, fumbling with her fingers before she continued. 

"I had a group. For a long time, actually. Seven including myself. And we did pretty well... But after a while, a couple of them got really sick. Two were bit. I was involved with this guy Jason. And he was kind of our leader, so to speak... I thou-" Hannah paused, willing herself to get it out despite how much it still hurt to think of everything Jason convinced her to do under the false pretense that he actually loved her. "I thought I loved him... but- that's not what that was. I was terrified of him. I never would have admitted it, but I was so afraid of what he'd do otherwise, that I did everything he asked me to. Including kill people that I considered family... He was a fucking monster. And after he ra-"  
Hannah choked on the word itself. Hardly able to keep herself in one piece in front of Rick as he carefully listened. A second later, she felt Rick's hand rest on her shoulder, giving her a warm squeeze as she tried and failed to be stronger than she knew she was. 

"I killed him. I put a blade in his chest so that I could watch him die, and I did it slowly because I wanted him to feel what I felt..."

"Good."

"No. I killed him because of what he was... and I ended up becoming just the same."

"That's not at all the same, Hannah." 

Hannah squeezed her eyes shut and let her face fall into her hands, shaking her head at losing her composure at the simplicity of just a single word. She lifted her face and looked down the street, watching Daryl make his way slowly toward them. Rick looked at him as he approached and stood up, concern lacing the words that came out of his mouth. 

"Did you know about what happened to her before?"

"Yeah. I did." Daryl said, his voice low as he nodded. "Fucked up." 

"I'm glad you did what you did." Rick said, bringing his hands up to rest at his hips and looking back at her. 

"If you hadn't, I'd'a gone and found the bastard and did it myself." Daryl said, dropping his weight into the grass and crossing his legs. 

"I'm glad he's gone, too. But-"

"But what? You think he didn't deserve that?"

"No... I just...the way I did it? I looked him in the eyes while I plunged that knife into his heart so that I could watch him die. To see him realize that I held his life in my hands and so that he could watch me take it. That's kind of fucked up."

"Nah. Not after what he did." 

"He was predator."

The three of them stayed there in silence for what seemed like hours, the day bright and windy around them. Hannah sat and contemplated everything she'd done and everything they'd said, finding herself feeling deflated and broken yet somehow right, knowing the world was a far better place without Jason in it. 

"Worst part is that he fucked me up in the head. For a long time, I didn't know which way was up. I like to think I'm smarter than to let someone like that get to me, but damn if it isn't true."

"I think stability and a group of people who care about you will help with that." Rick added, running his fingers through his hair. Daryl picked himself up just enough to move just next to Hannah's legs and leaned against the bench, resting his arms on his knees and picking at a long piece of grass he'd pulled. 

"It already has." Hannah said, combing the hair at the back of Daryl's head through her fingers. She looked up at Rick and squinted into the sun, holding her other hand at her brow when he looked down at her. "I never got to say it, but thank you." 

Rick nodded his head and looked back down at his feet, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. 

"You're more than welcome." 

A calm silence fell over the three of them again and Rick took a seat next to Hannah again, leaning his elbows on his knees and thinking to himself before he spoke again. 

"I think tomorrow night we can start sleeping in our own beds. What do you think?"

Daryl and Hannah both nodded in unison and Rick rubbed his hand along his cheek, saying nothing. Hannah leaned forward to rest her arms on the top of her leg, hoping Rick was serious as she continued to absently comb her fingers through Daryl's hair. It had been nice to have real shelter the previous night, but the floors were just as hard as any of the others had been and Hannah couldn't help but to have been a little disappointed that they chose to forgo using the beds that were sitting upstairs just waiting to be slept in - regardless of the sensible reasons why. 

"My back would definitely be thankful for that." She said easily before picking herself up and stretching out her limbs. 

"I don't think we've slept in actual beds since... the prison." Rick said, jogging his memory. "Maybe one after that for a night, but..."

"You guys stayed in a prison?" 

"For a while." Daryl answered, slowly nodding his head. "Better part of a year, anyway."

"Broke through the gates and all the prisoners and guards had turned, so we took it."

"Oh my god. There weren't any survivors at all?" 

"There were five or six locked away inside, but they all eventually got bit or killed" 

"You have a hand in that?" Hannah said easily, nudging his boot with her foot.

"Just one of 'em." Daryl answered for him. "Guy was a piece 'a shit."

"He'd have gotten himself killed out there anyway."

"Couple of 'em weren't so bad and they stuck around for a little while. But that guy was unhinged."

"Guess it was better to take him out from the get go then." Hannah offered, not entirely sure if she agreed with the idea. 

"Think we all know it's no secret I won't hesitate to kill someone if they threaten us."

Hannah nodded, appreciative of the sentiment albeit hesitant. 

"Fair enough." She added, turning to look back toward the house. "I guess since we'll be staying for at least a little while, I think I'll go move some of my stuff into a room. Take a shower. Feel human again."

The two men nodded and picked themselves up from where they sat and turned the opposite direction, Daryl's hand taking Hannah's before she left them. He looked at her easily, his eyes squinting at the brightness of the sun and for the first time in she couldn't even remember, a good life seemed possible. Perhaps it was something about having some security behind the walls of Alexandria, or maybe it was just the feeling of knowing they were in this together. Whatever it was, Hannah couldn't bring herself to overanalyze it, choosing instead to enjoy what she had while she had it. 

"Gonna go and take a look at this wall. See ya in a while." Daryl said quietly, She gave him a smile and swept some of his hair out of his face, turning back toward the house she had a feeling would become a home soon enough. 

"Want me to put your stuff in with mine?" Hanna asked, her stomach fluttering. 

Daryl said nothing and nodded, giving her a wink that she nearly missed. He bit absently at the inside of his lower lip and turned toward the drive that brought them into Alexandria, leaving Hannah to herself and the unwavering feeling of warmth he always stirred. She watched Daryl and Rick until they were out of sight and turned back toward the house, making her way back to sit on the steps. 

Hannah lost track of how long she'd been out there, lost in thought while she watched the members of Alexandria go about their day in the distance. Everyone seemed to be going about living like nothing had ever changed. There were kids gathered along the bank of the pond, exploring and learning about it's wildlife while families made their way along the streets as if the world were nothing to fear. As if there weren't horrendous people just outside the walls of this place that could so easily steal the life they'd grown so comfortable living. The idea itself nearly made her nauseous, but how could she blame them? There were walls here that gave them the sense that they were alone in the world, that there weren't threats - at least immediate ones, that could ruin everything they'd built. But even with walls as strong as those that surrounded this place, no one was ever really safe. Not completely. And the idea that they could ever think so is what nearly made her sick to her stomach.

"This place is nice." Carl's voice said as he opened the door and took his place next her on the porch, holding Judith in his lap.

"It is." Hannah nodded in agreement, trying to control the uneasy edge in her voice. 

"You think it'll stay this way?"

Hannah thought on the question a moment, unsure of how to answer it. Unsure if she even wanted to know. 

"I honestly don't know. They've made it this far..." She finally answered, offering her arms to take Judith.

"I like it here, I think." He said, handing her over and watching as the baby smiled and cooed, standing uneasily on Hannah's legs. "But... they're weak. Guess we just have to be careful." Hannah looked over and nodded before giving Judith a big smile and made a few faces, earning the kind of laugh that wasn't common anymore. The kind that made her miss the life she could have had when circumstances were much different.

"They can't have this and know what it's like out there. There's no way." Hannah offered while Judith continued to bounce herself in her lap. "I bet you anything, the first person I introduce myself to has never been outside those walls."

"I'd probably bet that right along with you." Carl said, nodding along with her just as Rick and Daryl came into view to their left between the two houses their group was given. He picked himself up just as Carol came out of the other house and joined the three in the small yard, their voices hushed as they spoke just out of earshot. 

"How about we get you something to eat, little lady?" Hannah said sweetly to the baby as she stood up and hoisted her onto her hip, turning toward the door and slipping inside. An open jar of apple sauce sat on the counter with it's lid sitting just off center and Hannah grabbed a spoon, earning squeals of excitement as she made noises and faces before each bite. Voices steadily grew closer until the door opened a few minutes later, just as Hannah had put Judith in her collapsable crib and grabbed her bag out of the corner. 

"Didn't quite get to movin' everything, huh?" Daryl teased, sneaking up behind her. 

"I'm crippled, remember?" Hannah joked, shrugging her bag over her shoulder. 

"That's bullshit." He gave a weak laugh, grabbing his own bag and leading her toward the stairs. 

"Didn't get to that shower either." Hannah said, annoyed at her own procrastination as they let their bags drop to the floor in the room they'd been in just a while earlier.

"All this is still weird..." Daryl said, almost more like a passing thought and more to himself than to Hannah. 

"If this is too fast for you, I get i-"

"Nah, ain't what I was talkin' about."

"You mean here?"

"Yeah."

"It is..." Hannah said, taking her knife and staring at it, turning the blade in her hands and setting it on the bedside table. "It'll be alright though. One day at a time."


	12. Chapter 12

Hannah woke with a start at the sudden sound of a water faucet across the room and turned onto her back to see Daryl standing by himself at the counter. The group was still scattered across the living room floor, most of them still sleeping even in the later hours of the morning. Her joints cracked and ached as she picked herself up, dreading what her ankle would feel like and relieved that with the exception of a dull ache, it was relatively normal. 

Feeling about twenty years older than she actually was, Hannah stepped carefully around and in between the rest of the sleeping group and took a seat on one of the barstools in the kitchen, watching as Daryl stood against the counter, absently turning one of his last arrows in between his fingers. 

"Thinkin' about goin' out today." He said, his voice low and sleepy. Hannah nodded slowly and picked at one of her fingernails, wondering how she'd fare now that her foot seemed a thousand times better than just two days before. 

"Yeah, probably smart.. get yourself oriented." Hannah offered, her voice nearly a whisper. 

"Still though, somethin' don't feel right.." Daryl said, Hannah lost at the context. She gave him a look of confusion and sat up, waiting for him to continue. "Don't even know what." 

"Like you don't fit?" Hannah offered, understanding the feeling well. Daryl looked down at his feet and nodded as Hannah picked herself up. She walked to him and leaned on her hip next to him, holding her hand along his his side and resting her head on his arm, not sure what to say to ease the discomfort they both felt in their new community. 

"Me too... But I think a lot of that is because we don't know them here." She finally whispered, moving her hand to hold the edge of his vest. "I'm going for a walk. Clear my head, I think." Hannah continued before she kissed his cheek and left him, catching him watching her leave as she closed the door. 

The air was almost unpleasantly chilly that morning as Hannah descended the porch steps and turned down the street, hugging her arms across her chest in an attempt to keep warm. The streets were still mostly deserted as the Alexandrians had yet to fully wake, most of them probably sipping blissfully at their morning coffee and reading old newspapers, completely unaware - or blissfully ignorant - of the danger the world around them truly was. 

For obvious reasons, Hannah didn't like being watched. Which is how she'd felt from the moment they pulled into the gates of Alexandria. But for their group to at least have a chance at catching their breath, she understood that she would have to just put up with it, at least for the time being. The trickiest part about Alexandria, however, was that despite their desire to get to know their new members, Hannah didn't necessarily want the people of Alexandria to get to know her. Maybe it was just old habits dying hard, but Hannah couldn't help but dislike the idea of an entire community wanting to know who she was, where she'd been or what she'd done. It had been difficult enough at the get go to let Daryl in, and even more so with his group. But they were one thing. Alexandria wasn't even close to the same ball field. There were way more of them that wanted to know, and just to add insult to injury, they didn't know what it was like to be out there, there would be almost no way they could ever relate to what she'd been through. But regardless of all the uncertainty and apprehension she felt about it, Hannah knew it was necessary. She'd been over the same issue in her head what seemed like a million times since they'd walked through the gates here and she always came to the same conclusion. What made her think that this time would yield her a different answer?

The sight of Glenn and Tara meeting three of the men from Alexandria caught Hannah's attention and she took a seat on one of the benches next to the pond, watching them converse briefly before heading toward the gates. Who knew where they'd be headed or what they'd be doing - but a big part of Hannah knew the three from Alexandria would think they knew it all compared to two of her group that actually did. Other members of the group slowly made their way outside, wandering to where ever they needed or wanted to go, Hannah losing track of how long she'd been outside. 

It could have been hours before Hannah decided to finally get up and around again, making her way around the community once more before a commotion at the gates caught her attention from just down the street. Glenn and Tara and the three others were back inside the gates as Glenn and another argued, their words muted from where Hannah stood. Hannah watched as Rick, Daryl and others approached, the argument escalating until a punch was thrown toward Glenn's head quickly followed by the aggressor falling hard to the pavement. Hannah gasped and ran toward the group just as she watched Daryl move quickly, taking one of the other three men down to the ground and striking him with a fierce punch. 

"Daryl, no!" Hannah shouted, stopping just short of Rick as he wrapped his hands around Daryl's shoulders and pulled him off of the man he'd hit. Out of breath, Daryl backed away only enough to be off of whoever it was he'd taken down as Rick held him back, Deanna speaking firmly to whoever was involved.

Hannah completely ignored the words coming from Deanna's mouth as she watched Daryl struggle to reign himself in, her expression a mix of confusion and disappointment before he finally looked up at her, anger burning bright in his eyes. He chewed at the inside of his lip before taking a step back and Hannah moved toward him, taking his arm in her hand. Deanna continued to speak and Hannah continued to focus on Daryl, at least until Deanna said something that neither of them expected. 

"...I'd like you to be our constable." She said dutifully, looking at Rick. "That's what you were. That's what you are... and you, too." She continued, looking over at Michonne.

Everyone was quiet a moment and Daryl took a step back while Rick stood still, visibly frustrated as both of them accepted the roles Deanna had picked out specifically for them. Daryl said nothing and picked up his crossbow, giving a brief nod of his head in sour acknowledgment of Rick's choice and turned to leave. 

"Daryl-" Hannah said softly, giving Deanna a short look of disappointment and quickly moving away from the group and following him. "Daryl, wait!"

"Nah. Go rest your foot. I'll be back later." 

"Daryl, goddamn it, no, stop!" Hannah snapped, catching up with him just enough to grab at his hand and stop him in his tracks behind a couple of empty houses, the tall metal walls only a few yards away from them. 

"Let go!" He spat, yanking his arm out of her hand and stepping back. "I'm fine."

"Apparently not, asshole." Hannah said, out of breath. 

"I gotta get outta here." 

"You are NOT leaving."

"Nah, I ain't leavin'. I just gotta get outta these damn walls."

"And do what, huh? Avoid dealing with whatever you might actually be feeling?" Hannah said, her words striking a sensitive cord. 

"The hell do you mean by that, huh?"

"I mean, you don't fucking talk to me. I just want you to be okay... I want you to talk to me." Hannah could tell her tone was desperate as she caught her breath and brought her hands to her hips, waiting for him to give her some sort of response.

"They don't know nothin' here. They don't know what we been through. What we did. Why the hell we did it. And he just takes that job? We don't know them-"

"Daryl, calm down. You think he'd do it if he didn't think it'd be good for us, too? At least he's got some authority. Maybe teach them someth-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Daryl snapped, tossing his free arm into the air as he turned to leave. 

"Don't you fucking walk away from me." Hannah warned, her voice tight and angry. 

"What am I 'sposed to do, huh? What do you want me to say?" 

"I just want you to be honest with me."

"'Bout what? Thought you said I didn't hafta change? Right? It's what you said ye-"

Hannah rushed at him and gave his shoulder a harsh shove, her blood instantly boiling. 

"Don't you dare use a fucking bullshit excuse like that with me. You know damn well that's not what I meant and you also know I know you better than that. Don't treat me like I don't." Hannah hissed, trying to keep as level a head a possible. 

"Well that's it. It's how I am. You don't like it then fine!"

"Daryl..." Hannah said quietly, her voice pleading and desperate now. Of all the time she'd been with him, this moment was the hardest. Not when she'd told him about Jason with tears streaming down her face. Not when she'd made the decision to let her guard down and tell him how she felt. But this moment, right here, of real anger and misunderstanding. Deep down, she knew the time would come when they would find something to argue about, but now that the moment was finally here, her heart broke in ways she couldn't describe. All she had wanted was to tell him he mattered. To tell him it was okay to be angry but to be understanding at the same time. But now here he was, pushing her away when she knew he needed the exact opposite. 

Tears burned at the backs of her eyes and she couldn't help but look away from him, hurt at the idea that after all they'd been through, after all they'd done and after all they'd said, he still felt like he couldn't just be open with her. Daryl watched her for a moment as she tried and failed to keep herself from letting the tears fall, her arms crossed tightly under her chest before he relaxed his shoulders and let his crossbow fall softly to the grass. Hannah stayed silent, prepared to let him go do what he wanted and turning to leave before his hand caught her arm, pulling her slowly into his. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the curve of her neck, kissing up and along her jaw before finally pressing his lips to hers. Their tongues worked their way between each others lips before she broke away from him, holding his gaze as his expression softened and his shoulders eased. 

"Tell me." She she softly, looking back up at him and trying to blink away the sting of tears still burning behind her eyes. 

He chewed at the inside of his lip for a second before looking away. Hannah pulled his face back to hers and made him look at her again, seeing exactly what he was probably hoping she couldn't - hurt. He hadn't been trusted enough to be given a job, and Hannah could see that's what was eating at him. Rick and Michonne had been chosen first and he wasn't good enough - at least that's what Hannah could see him feel, standing there in front her, his heart hidden in plain sight right there on his sleeve.

"She just hands them jobs like it's nothin' and what am I 'sposed to do? Just sit here and wait and watch?"

"I haven't been given anything either."

"Least you got a reason." He said quietly, dropping his eyes to the ground. 

"Would you stop that?" Daryl snapped his head back to look at her.

"Stop what?"

"Stop thinking that for some reason, you aren't worth it or deserving."

Daryl said nothing and instead just stood and watched her, needing no further explanation and letting her words sink in. 

"Daryl, please listen to what I'm about to tell you and listen well." Hannah said, pulling him against her body and holding her hands along his hips. "You are worth everything to me... whatever's happened to you or whatever you've done doesn't mean a damn thing anymore. Not to me. And it's none of their business anyway. But regardless. Whatever's happened, you're different now. Rick even said so. You're so protective of everyone and so willing to put your self in danger for them, I think you forget, or tell yourself you don't, but you deserve the same thing." Silence fell between them and Hannah took the edge of his vest between her fingers, memorizing it's smooth texture and holding his gaze before she spoke again. "Daryl, I love you... don't be angry about this - at least not for too long. Nothing good will come of it."

Daryl pulled her closer into his arms and held her, kissing behind her ear before picking up his crossbow and taking her hand and leading her back toward the street.

***

The evening was quiet as everyone in the group picked up their things and settled into their rooms and Hannah limped out onto the porch, covering herself in a thick knit blanket and leaning against the siding with her eyes closed and her head turned toward the street. Her thoughts lost in everything and nothing at all, she sat there and let her mind wander until a set of footsteps slowly found their way across from her as Daryl came to lean against one of the porch posts. Hannah looked at him as he lit a cigarette, giving him an easy smile when he nodded warmly toward her. Rick joined them a moment later and Hannah looked him up and down, trying to adjust to seeing him in a makeshift cop's uniform.

"You good?" He asked, looking over at Daryl.

"You a cop again?" 

"Tryin' it on for size." Rick said, sighing as Carol slipped out from the other door to join them. 

"It suits you." Hannah offered casually. 

"So we're staying?" Carol asked after giving Hannah a weak smile. 

"I think we can start sleeping in our homes. Settle in."

Hannah smiled to herself, already looking forward to the feel of an actual mattress and blankets she couldn't wait to be tangled in.

"We get comfortable here, let our guard down, this place is gonna make us weak." Carol added, both Hannah and Daryl watching each other from opposite sides of the porch. 

"Carl said that... but it's not gonna happen." Rick said like it were a matter of fact, slowly stepping over to the railing. Hannah pulled herself up and limped over toward Daryl and wrapped her arms around his waist when he turned to face Rick, resting her head against his arm before Rick continued. 

"We won't get weak. That's not in us anymore."

Daryl looked over at her and leaned his forehead against hers, bringing his arm around her shoulders as he let Rick's words sink in.

"We'll make it work. If they can't make it... then we'll just take this place."

No one said anything for a while. The silence between them heavy and thick at the reality of what they all knew Rick was more than willing to do. Eventually, Rick and Carol returned inside and left Hannah and Daryl to themselves, the light sounds of crickets replacing the heavy silence.

"I think we should go inside." Hannah said softly, still moving her hand slowly along his back. Daryl looked down at her and kissed her forehead. 

"Go ahead. I'll meet you up there." Daryl returned, pulling another cigarette from the pack in his back pocket. 

"Don't keep me waiting too long." She whispered, giving him a wink and disappearing into the house. 

The house was quiet as Hannah walked through the kitchen and up the stairs, noticing most of the group had moved to their own rooms or next door before closing the door to the room she'd claimed, smiling at Daryl's bag in the corner. She slowly pulled off her clothes and walked into the adjoining bathroom, turning on the water in the shower before stopping in front of the vanity and taking a good hard look at herself. 

Hannah couldn't remember the last time she'd looked in a mirror and she wasn't quite sure she even recognized the naked woman staring back at her. She frowned at the sight of herself, her once vibrant blonde hair had dulled to a pale yellow and her vivid green eyes, the only good thing she'd ever inherited from her father, had faded, the life she's struggled to build for herself drained away from nearly two years of fighting. She counted the scars scattered across her skin from various gun fights and close calls with countless numbers of walkers and could hardly keep count before she gave up. 

"When I first saw you that day, almost thought I was seein' things." Daryl's deep voice cut through the space and Hannah jumped, taking a slight step back before leaning against the vanity. 

"Why?"

"You looked like her at first."

"Like wh- oh." Hannah stopped short, guilt pulling at her insides as she realized who he was talking about.

"But even though you weren't... there was just somethin' about you I couldn't walk away from. Think part of it was just to hold onto her... but more than that, it was just how fuckin' beautiful you are."

"Daryl-"

"That next mornin' when you found me in that locker room... you did more for me than you know. Even bein' a stranger, you gave a shit from the get go even when I tried pushin' you away. You didn't quit. You never have."

Hannah walked up to him and pulled him close to her, holding her hands on his waist as she waited for him to continue, realizing it wasn't just her he needed to say any of this for. He was saying it for himself. 

"So if it's anybody who's gotta say 'thank you', it's me." He finally said, looking at her from behind the hair in his face. Hannah swept it to the side and tucked what she could behind his ears, holding his face to hers before she kissed him, slipping her tongue between his lips and leaning into his body. 

Hannah took the edges of Daryl's vest in her hands and pushed it off his shoulders, helping him unbutton his shirt and remove his tattered pants. Both of them stood naked on the tile floor, their lips still moving together before Hannah pulled him into the shower, the hot water more than welcome for the first time in countless months. 

"Shit, I can't remember the last time I had a hot shower." Hannah laughed, combing her fingers through his dark hair and watching the dirt wash away from his skin. 

It was the first time she'd seem him without dirt on his face and she couldn't help but feel herself fall even more in love with every single part of him all over again. Whatever was going on in his head was for him to know until he was ready to share it, but Hannah had the feeling that this moment, standing with her and letting her wash away what was left of the world they knew, could be tremendously freeing for him. Maybe for Daryl, this wasn't just an opportunity to clean up and get rid of the constant stench of dead human remains that permeated everything, but an opportunity to start new. To wash away the sins of his past and leave behind the rancid memories of hurt and loss and emerge from it a clean, blank canvas. Heaven knew that's how Hannah was feeling. For her, this was a moment of rebirth. Of forgetting the life behind her, everything that Jason had made her do, what he'd done and every shitty word he or anyone else had ever said and moving forward with a life that could finally yield some good. 

A smile pulled at her lips and Daryl leaned down to press his forehead to hers, bringing his hands to hold along her waist. There weren't words to describe him in moments like this. They weren't necessary for Hannah to pick up on where his thoughts were. With a single touch or a single look, it was like she could read him now. And what she was reading right here, in this moment, was a man who could finally let go of everything he'd been carrying for too long and just be who he was. And Hannah couldn't help but be purely and totally happy, for both him and herself. 

Hannah took her time as he let her wash his hair and then her own, memorizing every inch of his body that she could as they both stood facing one another under the steaming hot water. She looked down as she turned off the water and a sour look crossed her face at the ring of dirt around the drain. 

"Oh my god." She said out loud, giving a small laugh and stepping out of the glass shower. 

"Little dirt never hurt anybody." Daryl joked, yanking a towel from a bar on the wall behind her and messing his hair in it before wrapping it around his hips. Hannah did the same and he followed her into the bedroom, steam bellowing out of the bathroom behind them.

"That may be true, but I'd rather it not be caked on my skin any more if I can help it." 

Daryl plopped himself onto the bed and stretched out, clasping his hands behind his head and staring up at nothing. Hannah watched him and smiled before gathering their clothes and dropping them in a basket she'd pulled from the closet. Daryl strained to look up from his pillow and chewed on his fingernail, watching as Hannah stood and pulled open the door, giving her a wink before she smiled at him and disappeared into the hallway. 

"Here, let me." Rick offered, taking the basket from her when he noticed she was still limping. 

"You don't have to, it's really fine, I'm just being careful." Hannah said, trying to take it back.

"No, I got it. I'm on my way out anyways. You guys comfortable in there?" 

"I think so. Finally got him to take a shower."

"Carol's only been naggin' him about it since yesterday." 

"I heard about that." Hannah laughed as Rick took a step down. 

"She's got a point, but- sometimes that doesn't apply with him."

"Certainly marches to beat of his own drum."

"That he does." He said, smiling and turning to go. 

"Hey, uh, I wanted to tell you... anything you do here, you know, with your job, I trust you completely." Hannah said, holding her hand on his arm softly. "Do what you need to do."

"Thank you." He said quietly, giving her a nod in understanding. 

"Night, Rick." She said easily, turning to go after he returned the sentiment. 

Hannah locked the door behind her and leaned back against it, watching as Daryl's stomach slowly moved up and down as he laid there drifting to sleep. She walked over and climbed onto the bed, abandoning the towel still wrapped around her on the floor and bringing one of her legs over him to straddle his lap. Daryl opened his eyes and Hannah leaned down over him, combing her hands through his still damp hair. Without a single word, Hannah dipped her head down to kiss along his collar bone and worked her way down his body, his breath leaving him in quick, sharp bursts. Pulling at the towel tucked into itself around his hips, Hannah took all of him between her lips and moved smoothly, running her hands slowly along his thighs until bringing one of them to stroke him along with her mouth. 

She watched and smiled as Daryl breathed heavily in front of her, his hands grabbing for a handful of her hair. She moved her tongue in luscious waves and pulses along his solid cock, savoring every drop of fluid he was already giving her before she picked herself back up and straddled his lap. Daryl sat up and wrapped his arms around her, bringing his lips to kiss along her shoulder and up her neck. Every time he touched her, Hannah could feel herself become more and more dazed, completely at his mercy when she closed her eyes and arched her body into his. His hands moved along her skin as he took one of her nipples between his fingers, teasing and pulling it while the other ventured between them, finding her clit and moving in tight circles until she nearly came undone. Daryl pulled her lips to his and kissed her hard, pushing his tongue into her mouth and swiftly moving her to lay on her back. Daryl's lips never left hers while he tossed his towel to the floor and brought his fingers back to her clit, moving in agonizingly slow movements while Hannah begged him to move faster. 

"Jesus, enough of this. Don't make me wait any longer." Hannah breathed, the corner of Daryl's mouth curling into a small but wicked grin.

"I got you so fuckin' wet, girl, damn." He huffed, diving into the curve of her neck. 

"You always do." 

Daryl moved his lips even faster across her skin and continued to tease her soaking, begging core with his fingers. Hannah strained to look between them and took all of him in her hand to pull him closer and brought his tip to her slick entrance. 

Slowly, he pushed himself inside of her, his tip just inside of her before he pulled back out. Hannah gave his arm a hearty smack and he moved to look up at her, pressing his lips to hers and finally giving her what she wanted. He filled her completely, like he always did, her walls tight and stretched around him and aching with the want and need to feel him moving inside of her. Daryl straightened himself up and took the backs of her knees in his hands while he adjusted his hips and started to thrust hard and fast, the sound of their skin making contact filling the space. 

Hannah reached up and held her hands on top of Daryl's behind her knees, every last inch of her skin tingling at the sight and sound of him pumping into her. 

"Holy shit-" Hannah breathed, nearly choking on the first wave of heat sweeping up into her chest. 

Not a second later Daryl pushed himself in to the hilt and stayed there, buried in deep in every inch she had to offer him, his breathing heavy and labored. Hannah moved her hands along his smooth, muscular arms and he leaned in close between her legs, holding himself above her as he looked into her eyes. He pulled himself from inside of her and collapsed behind her back, running his hand along her ribs and hugging her body into his before he lifted her leg. Kissing behind Hannah's ear, Daryl brought his tip back to push inside of her and started to move his body with hers again, their rhythm slow and smooth and gratifying in every way while they breathed each other's names and various words of need. 

"Fuck, Hannah, keep fuckin' doin' that." Daryl said, his voice nearly shaking as she tightened her walls around him, her own voice escaping her in weak moans that were only growing in volume. 

"I'm gon- fuck, Daryl, I'm com-" Hannah choked, leaning her body into Daryl's as he moved his hand between her legs and rubbed her clit. 

She sucked in a final breath just as Daryl pumped hard into her one last time, keeping himself buried and spilling every last drop of his orgasm inside of her. Taking his time, he moved his hand along her skin, up to tease her nipple and back down between her legs to feel their soaking connection where he still moved in achingly slow waves. Daryl pulled himself from her soaking core and pushed his fingers just inside of her and Hannah took his hand, bringing it to her mouth and gently sucking on his finger. He kissed behind her ear and pulled himself off of the bed, turning into the bathroom and leaving the door wide open for Hannah to notice something about him she'd never noticed before.

Throughout the weeks she'd been with Daryl and his group, she'd seen him without his clothes on - enough times that she could describe every inch of his body to anyone who asked. But what she hadn't really noticed was that any time she had seen him, she'd never seen his back or the six faded yet still very visible scars slashed across his skin. Hannah sucked in a small gasp as she hoisted herself up to lean on her elbow and chewed at the inside of her bottom lip, watching him carefully as he ran his hands under the water and turned back toward the room. 

"Daryl?" Hannah said softly, sitting up. 

Daryl looked up in acknowledgement as she waved him toward her and patted the bed next to her, his eyes never leaving hers as he sat down next to her. 

"No, face that way." She said, turning him to face away from her and feeling her stomach drop at the sight in front of her. Heavy tears burned at the backs of her eyes and rolled slowly down her cheeks, a heavy sadness pulling at every piece of her at the idea that someone had cared so little about this man that they would hurt him like this. An even heavier sadness sweeping through her at the sudden jolt at the painful and horrifying memories of her own broken childhood.

"When did this happen?" Hannah asked even though she knew the answer, her voice shaking as she moved her hand gently along one of his scars. 

"Which one?" Daryl returned after a long pause, turning his head to look back at her. 

"Any of them... these look so much older than anything that could have happened after the turn..."

"That's 'cause they are. Dad was an asshole."

Hannah took a moment to look at them again, each scar surely a story in and of itself. 

"How cou-" Hannah stopped herself short, swallowing away the hurt she felt for the man she loved more than anything. "I don't understand how any parent could look at their child and want to hurt them." 

"Yeah, well I don't either." Daryl snapped, standing up and picking up his boxers. Hannah sat a moment dumbfounded, her mouth hanging open before turning away from him, wishing he knew she could understand.

Without saying another word Hannah dropped her head and silently cried, wishing she knew of a better way to talk to him. It seemed like every time she brought up something sensitive, she was playing a game Roulette that she seemed to always lose. But what if he knew that she understood what it was like to grow up in a broken home? With a deadbeat for a father in and out of jail and a mother who ignored the fact that her husband was abusive, she could certainly relate. While the scars and bruises from her step father were never visible on the outside, the lasting damage was very real, and all Hannah wanted to do was hold him, and be held herself. 

"Daryl, I-"

"Don't."

"Why do you do this?" Hannah pleaded, looking up at him and trying to keep her voice down. 

"Do what, huh? Not talk about shit that don't even matter?"

"But it does matter." More tears rushed down her cheeks and Hannah struggled to take a breath, all of the hurt and anger from so many years before boiling out of the box she'd kept them in in the back of her mind. "It does matter, Daryl-" She continued, swallowing hard as he took a step toward her. Daryl said nothing and watched her, soft sobs escaping between gasps for air while she continued fighting a battle in her head against demons she'd long thought were locked away for good. 

"You really that upset I wo-"

"No."

"Then why-"

"Because you're not the only one in the room who-" Hannah stopped herself and took a shaky, deep breath, looking up at him through puffy, bloodshot eyes while tears still silently fell. "You aren't the only one in the room who had a shitty childhood, that's why."

Daryl froze where he was and dropped his head, bringing his hand to hold at the back of his neck. Giving up on the idea of trying for the night, Hannah swallowed hard and pulled the blankets over her body, turning away from him and turning off the light. 

Defeated, she hugged her pillow close and closed her eyes to the disappointment that was hard to swallow, hoping that somehow sleep would come sooner rather than later. Someday, she hoped, Daryl would understand that she just wanted to know him. Every part of him. Not because she was nosy and certainly not to use it to hurt him all over again. But to shoulder it with him and prove that no matter what, he had someone by his side who could understand what it was like to be made to feel worthless by people who were supposed to love you. 

Tears continued to spill down her cheeks and dampen her pillow as Hannah's mind raced, the silence of the room deafening as her heart continued to break. But just as she started to cry even harder, the bed jostled and Daryl's hand found her waist under the sheets, the warmth of his body moving in closely behind her. He pulled her in and nestled his face into the curve of her neck, her body shaking as she lost all control of herself and sobbed into her pillow. 

"Hannah-" Daryl's voice was quiet in her ear, his arm wrapped tight around her waist. Hannah said nothing, every part of her broken and overwhelmed at the memories of a childhood she wished more than anything she could forget forever. 

"Look at me." He said, turning her toward him and holding her face in his hand. He wiped away the tears still falling down her cheeks and she finally looked at him, his expression full of sadness for the woman he'd tried to push away. "I'm sorry." 

"I just want you to know I love you." She said after a while, her voice weak and shaking. "And that I know what it's like to fight your demons and lose... my scars aren't visible, but they're just as real."

Daryl pulled her into his arms and kissed her, moving to nuzzle into the curve of her neck and finally letting go of his own defenses, tears falling down his cheeks and into her hair. 

"I'm sorry." He struggled to say, swallowing hard. 

The two of them laid there in silence, losing track of time as they tried to calm themselves and get a stronger hold of their pasts. Hannah held her arms against Daryl's chest while he held her, absently moving her thumb along his cheek before she finally spoke. 

"It was my step dad." She said simply, her voice barely above a whisper. "My mom just... wanted him to stay. Who the fuck knows why, he was an asshole to everyone - including her. But he was the worst to my sister and I."

"What about your dad?"

"In and out of jail. I barely knew him anyway. The only thing I ever got from the man was my hair and eyes."

"Where's your sister? What happened to her?"

"I don't know. She stayed at home when I emancipated myself. I asked her to come with me, but... I don't know. I left and never looked back... Last I heard was like five years ago. She was working at a diner with a friend of mine from high school and I guess the son of a bitch had gotten her pregnant. I tried calling, but... she never answered. Never called back." 

"Did he fuckin' touch you?" Daryl asked, his voice angry. 

"No... that was always Emily. No, he just used me as the punching bag." 

"I love you." He said softly, squeezing her body warmly against his. "I'd kill that motherfucker if I could." 

Hannah moved her arms to wrap around his neck and kissed him, feeling like her world was starting to make some sense again before she pulled slightly away from him and waited. 

"Merle got in trouble a lot. Went to juvie all the time so I was stuck fendin' for myself. Mom died when I was just a kid. Dad just got worse after that."

"Did he leave? Your brother?"

"Yeah... I was too young to go with 'em. He didn't try to help though. He just... left. Gone. Didn't came back for me until it was too late."

A wave of guilt swept over her and Hannah pulled him close, wishing there were something she could do to turn back time and save him herself. She knew what it was like to be the older sibling who could leave. She didn't know what it was like to be the younger one who felt helpless and trapped. Even after giving Emily the chance to get out of that house, she still held on to the massive weight that leaving a bad home comes with. 

"I would have." She finally said, looking into the sadness of his eyes, hoping her words would help even just a little bit. "I always will."


	13. Chapter 13

Morning came and Hannah woke up easily, feeling more awake than she had in any recent months as she pulled herself from the warmth of the bed she and Daryl had shared. But when she turned over and reached for him, his side was vacant and she was alone. She fell back into a handful of pillows, wondering where he could be before she heard heavy footsteps come up to the door and the doorknob turn.

"Everything okay?" Hannah asked as Daryl walked into the bedroom.

"Mhm. Get up. Put some clothes on."

"Where are we going?"

"You're gonna need a gun."

"What?" Hannah asked, lost as to why she'd need to be armed, especially given Deanna's rules regarding weapons inside the walls. 

"Gonna go hunt. You comin'?"

"You sure that's such a good idea without someone who knows their way around? Especially wi-"

"We don't need them. I can track. You'll have a gun. I'll get one, too. C'mon."

Hannah heaved a sigh of resignation before pulling on the clothes he'd dumped on the bed at her feet and followed him outside. Daryl draped his arm around Hannah's shoulder and led her to the same courtyard where they'd turned in their weapons and waited for the same woman from before, leaning against the stair rail before the bright white door opened.

"Hi guys." She said, smiling at the two of them. Hannah nodded in acknowledgment as the woman let them in, guiding them inside. "I'm Olivia, by the way. I don't think I got a chance to tell you my name the other day."

"Hannah. This is Daryl." Hannah offered, taking his arm gently in her hand. 

"Goin' outside. We'll need some guns."

"You sure you'll need them with that thing?" Olivia asked, almost joking as she pointed at the crossbow strapped around Daryl's shoulders.

"She'll need somethin' too. I'll take one as back up."

"That's probably smart. I wouldn't really know. I haven't been out there since almost the beginning."

Hannah nodded to herself in knowing she'd been right with what she told Carl. 

"Consider yourself lucky, then." Hannah said, unamused as Olivia pointed and showed them into what could have been a pantry, but instead was lined with weapons of every size and type. 

"Take what you need. Just check them back in when you come back." She said, leaning against the door frame and watching as Daryl and Hannah picked up three heavy black handguns along with extra magazines, pulling an assault rifle and an extra box of bullets from the shelf for good measure.

"Thanks." Daryl said plainly as he zipped up the bag on Hannah's back, leaving the room and pulling Hannah along with him. 

"Hey, wait!" Olivia said, almost excitedly.

"I already asked Sasha too, but if you get a boar while you're out, mind if I take a leg of it?"

Daryl stared at her a moment, giving away nothing before he nodded his head and continued out the door, heading toward the gates. 

"Just to let you know, I'm not renowned for my hunting or tracking skills." Hannah said as the gates closed behind them. "I mean, I'm not useless. I'm a good shot, but I can't follow anything for shit."

"Good thing I can." Daryl said, his voice low in his throat as the turned off of the road and into the woods. 

The weather had taken a turn for the warmer and they made their way carefully through the trees, a slight sheen of sweat starting to glisten on Hannah's skin before the pain in her ankle slowly started to catch up with her. 

"Daryl-" She said softly. "Daryl, wait." 

He turned around as she sat on a fallen tree, bringing her leg up and hugging it to her chest.

"You alright?"

"It's just sore. I need a minute." She said, rubbing smoothly along her jeans. 

Daryl leaned down on his knee and swatted away her hands, rolling up the leg of her pants and taking a close look. The skin around her ankle had turned to various shades of purple and green as the bruising set in and Hannah sucked in a slight gasp of surprise through her teeth, surprised at how horrifying it looked when it didn't hurt nearly as badly.

"Shit, you sure you can handle bein' out here?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's sore, but it doesn't feel NEARLY as bad as it looks."

"Jesus.." He said almost to himself, running his hand along the darkened skin. 

"Ow! No, stop!" Hannah said through her teeth as he hit a tender spot just below the knot of her ankle. "That actually did hurt."

"Sorry." Daryl said, pulling his hands away and picking himself up, taking a seat next to her. Hannah brought her hand to run along his back, tracing the frayed fabric of the angel wings on his vest with her finger before holding her hand at the curve of his neck and looking up at him. 

"I'm sorry about yesterday." She said quietly, absently moving her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. 

"Wasn't you."

"No, I mean, I'm just sorry. I only meant to tell you that I get why you're angry... I just... didn't articulate it well."

"Don't gotta be sorry." He said, holding her gaze. Hannah lost herself at the way he always looked at her, part of herself unable to even think straight. 

"I am anyway. We both misunderstood what the other was trying to say. I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you. But, I'm really glad last night happened. It's a relief to know someone here who knows what having a past like that is like." Hannah said softly, feeling her heart melt at the feel of his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his lap. 

"I shouldn'ta gotten nasty either... Sorry I even brought up the whole 'not changin' thing. It ain't what you meant an' I knew it."

Hannah kissed him and held his cheek, resting her head on his shoulder and smiling to herself at the feel of his hands moving slowly along her body. Feeling the familiar twinge of need, she moved her hips in his lap and kissed him, wanting only one thing in that moment and that was to feel him inside of her.

"It terrifies me how much I love you." Hannah whispered, holding his cheek in her hand and looking deep into the beautiful blue of his eyes. "And it saddens me to no end at the idea that maybe you don't think you deserve it."

"I did a lotta shit."

"I don't care."

"Maybe you should."

"Even if I did. It wouldn't change anything. I would love you just the same."

Daryl was quiet a moment while she held onto him, his thumb moving absently back and forth along her thigh as he rest his arm across her lap. She reached down and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together before bringing his hand to her breast and kissing him again. 

"Make me come, Daryl" She breathed into his kiss.

"What, right out here?"

"Right out here."

"That ain't stupid or dangerous at all."

"Is that going to stop you?" Hannah asked, her voice begging as she pulled at the edge of his vest. 

Daryl's hands quickly fumbled with the button and zipper of her jeans and he picked her up, setting her back on the solid wood of the tree and pulling her jeans all the way off and leaving them on the ground.

Like it was nothing, Daryl quickly unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, all of him already solid and wanting, begging to be moving in ferocious thrusts inside of every inch Hannah had to offer him. 

"Jesus Christ, you're fuckin' beautiful." Daryl breathed, holding himself in his hand as he stood above her, running his other hand along the smooth, milky skin of her thigh. Hannah's skin flushed bright and she bit her lip at him, moving her own hands down along her stomach and onto her thighs, taking his arm and pulling him between her legs. 

Daryl quickly filled her, every inch of him blissful and tingling inside of her as she let out a long, wanting breath. Hannah leaned in closer and held tight to Daryl's shoulders, kissing along his arm as he slowly started to move his hips into hers. 

"God damn that's good... fuck." He said, his voice low and gritty in her ear. Every word he spoke only brought her closer to her release, his hips thrusting hard into her body and forcing her throat to give it's own short, wanting moans and gasps. 

"Oh my god, Daryl!" Hannah begged, letting her head fall back as she tried to catch her breath. He pumped hard into her, every inch of him sending her reeling for words she couldn't possibly find. "Holy shit, I'm gonna come so fucking fast!"

Daryl brought his knee up to rest on the tree and he leaned in closer, pressing his lips against the skin of her collar bone and moving his hand up along her ribs under her shirt, holding her warmly just under her armpit as he brought his other between them and worked along their hot, slick connection. 

"Fuck my clit, Daryl." Hannah begged, looking up at him and bringing her hand up to the curve of his neck, pulling his lips to hers. 

"That what you want?"

"Yes, I fucking want you so b-" Hannah couldn't even finish her sentence, the feel of his fingers working in tight, controlled circles around her clit stealing her ability to think or speak. 

Hardly another second passed and Hannah lost all sense of time or direction, the feel of Daryl's velvety skin against her own throwing her over the edge and plummeting into a release that could hardly be rivaled. 

"Oh holy sHI-" Hannah cried out in ecstasy before Daryl's heavy hand covered her mouth, muffling the sounds of her release as the fluids of her orgasm coated their thighs. 

"Jesus Christ, Hannah." Daryl husked into her ear, looking down between them at the delicious sight of her coming all over him. With a renewed sense of need, he fucked her faster, moving his hips desperately into her convulsing channel and quickly catching up with her, the sounds coming from deep in his belly growing in volume with every thrust. 

"Come for me, make me fucking feel it." Hannah said from between her teeth. 

"Don't you fuckin' worry." He said, his voice hard and strained mere seconds before he slammed his hips into hers one last time, every inch of him tingling as his body grew hard and rigid against hers. 

"Holy shit, Daryl..." Hannah breathed as he took a step back form her, marveling at the sight of her. She pulled herself down from the fallen tree and knelt in front of him, engulfing all of him between her lips and moaning into the sweet mix of their orgasms that nearly dripped off of him. 

Daryl quickly grabbed her arm and brought her to stand up, kissing her hard as he tucked himself back into his pants and zipped them. Hannah stepped back and tried to step into her jeans and Daryl pushed her to sit down again, spreading her legs again and bringing his tongue to her soaking lips. Hannah's breath caught as he sucked and teased her clit, each move he made unbearable in the best way. 

"Oh go-" Hannah's voice caught when he hit a tender nerve, her body writhing at the feel of him as she again felt a rush of fluid begin to coat her walls while he moaned into her taste. Daryl stood and leaned over her, letting her sit up before slipping his tongue into her mouth so that she could taste herself. Hannah kissed him deeply, pulling him closer to her by his vest and stood up, wrapping her arms around him before she pulled on her jeans. She took another moment to straighten herself together, strapping her bag back on her shoulders before Daryl pulled her hard into his arms again, his lips pressing warmly into the skin of her neck. 

"I love you so fucking much." He said, his words so quiet she could barely hear them.

Hannah kissed him again and they both sat down on the ground, leaning against the tree as she let her head rest on his shoulder. 

"How'd you get out?" Daryl finally said, breaking their easy silence. 

"What?"

"From home. How'd you get outta there?"

"I 'legally' ran away. Filed emancipation papers and got a job. Finished high school and stayed on a few friends' sofas until I could get my own place. Applied for some grant money for college and lucked out with a few scholarships."

"You make it sound like it's easy."

"It wasn't. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I was clueless and terrified almost all the time... wasn't until I was almost done with college that I finally got a grip and felt like I might have had an idea of what I was doing... did you ever leave?"

"I tried. Couple times I went a couple weeks without seein' the old man. Then he'd just show up again. Finally Merle showed back up and I split with him. Didn't do nothin' important like you did. Chock it up to bein' young an' stupid, I guess."

"You don't start out wise, Daryl. Everyone's got to start out somewhere."

"Think I started with a little less than a lotta folks."

"But you've earned so much more than they ever will." Hannah offered, sitting up and moving her hand along his back. Daryl looked at her, not yet fully believing what she'd told him time and time again. 

"Psh. Right." Daryl scoffed playfully, pretending to joke as he looked at the ground between his feet, not sure if he was willing to accept that he was the saint Hannah knew he really was. 

"No, I mean it. I think it's because of where you come from... what he did to you, that you understand what it's like to be hurt. And it's because of that that you do whatever you have to do to protect who you love." She continued, moving her hand to the curve of his neck and pulled his head to her, leaning her forehead against his. "You don't want to see anyone else feel that... It's just another reason to love you."

Daryl brought his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple, holding her close while they let an easy silence fall between them. Nothing stirred around them except a gentle breeze that did nothing to alleviate the heat or humidity that the both of them had grown to ignore. 

"Talked to Rick an' Carol this morning." Daryl finally said, moving his arm down and holding his hand along her side. 

"Is that where you went before I got up?" 

"Guess Carol's gonna work on gettin' a couple guns for us to keep just in case any these pricks decide to try anything." He said after nodding his answer to her question.

"Do you think that's really necessary?"

"Dunno. You told me to try. So'd she. Feel like if I take one it'd be doin' the opposite." 

"I think you're right... that and I don't really think any of them have the balls to go head to head with any of us. I doubt they'd know how to handle a gun."

"Nah, that ain't even it... Feel like if either group is gonna trust the other, we gotta give each other a reason to. Me carryin' around a gun don't necessarily do that."

Hannah looked at him and gave him an easy smile full of pride, knowing that somehow they could make this work no matter how uneasy they still felt, and realizing for the first time in a long time, that life anymore wasn't so bad. At least for now. 

Another moment passed between them and Hannah leaned back against the tree trunk, her thoughts drifting toward the short conversation she'd had with Carol on the stairs. She sat and wondered just what kind of past she and Daryl might have had, curious to know how much they could have done or what they might have shared behind closed doors. 

"Carol stopped me in the stairs the other day..." Hannah said quietly, pulling her knees to her chest and lazily wrapping her arms around them. 

"What?"

"After I told you I loved you. When we went downstairs, Carol pulled me aside and asked about you and I." Hannah added, looking over at him as he watched her carefully. "Asked if we were serious." 

Daryl gave away nothing and he continued to wait, Hannah's nerves nearly getting the better of her before he finally spoke. 

"What'd you tell her?"

"Not much of anything, but I said 'yes'."

"She say anything to that?"

"Not really... but, did you guys ever-"

"Nah... no we never did anything."

"She just seems very... protective. Which is good. But it was almost like she was... maybe disappointed by my answer."

"We've been through a lotta shit... saved her ass on several occasions."

"Doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings for you..."

"Guess so. Won't lie to you, she's made passes. But..." Daryl's voice trailed off and Daryl looked up towards the trees, fidgeting with his thumb. 

"But what?" Hannah asked, her eyes never leaving him when he looked over at her. 

"I could never do it. Never felt right."

"Why is that?"

"I guess I was just waitin'." Hannah waited expectantly, a smile tugging gently at the corner of her mouth.

"For?" 

"Think I was waitin' to find you."

Hannah's smile widened and she brought her hand behind his back and up to the curve of his neck, bringing him closer to her. She pressed her forehead to his and kissed him softly, her heart soaring and goosebumps moving swiftly across her skin. Hannah swallowed hard as her stomach turned, a sudden sense of nervousness sweeping through before she asked a question she knew would be sensitive for him.

"What about-"

"No." Daryl said quietly as Hannah held his cheek, his expression somber. "Nah, she was just a kid." 

"Tell me about her." 

"She was just like I said. Just a kid... for a long time, I didn't get why she'd made it as long as she had. Lucky, I guess..." 

"With a group like yours, I'm not surprised."

"Did a lot for Rick with Judith for a while... least until the prison went up in flames and we had to run. It was just us for while, tryin' to find the group again somehow."

Hannah clung to his every word, hoping he wouldn't shut down before she could know more about the girl who's death had broken him so badly. Who's death had brought him to a point so low, that he'd sought solace in solitude and brought him to her. Guilt tore her insides to shreds, realizing that without what had happened to Beth, Hannah would never have been found. She would still be alone. 

"We were held up in a funeral home for a couple days and got separated when it got overrun. Went runnin' after and just couldn't keep up with the car that took her. Turns out the people that took her ended up killin' her anyways..." Daryl's voice trailed off again and he struggled to keep himself together. Hannah moved in closer and held him against her body, wrapping her arms around him and wanting to do nothing but help him shoulder the pain of missing her. "If I hadn't 'a told her to go out the front... if I'd 'a pushed her behind me in the hall at that fuckin' hospital... she'd still be here." 

"I'm so sorry." Hannah whispered, kissing the top of his head.

"But I found you." 

"You did."

"If I hadn't 'a needed a minute to get my shit together, I wouldn't have." Daryl said, moving just enough to look up at her. "Guess that's why part of me feels like shit. Because she was gone, I went off and found you... and you've done so much good for me."

Tears flooded Hannah's eyes and she squeezed him tight against her, kissing his cheek. 

"I never could've been with Beth. As much as I cared about her... She was all of eighteen. Maybe even younger. But I never saw here that way... Like I said, I think I was waitin' to find you."

Hannah smiled easily at him, her eyes still filled with tears that spilled down her cheeks.

"I wish I could say I waited for you. I wish I had." She finally said, turning her body to face him, her legs leaning lazily on his. "I'm so embarrassed that I could let someone like Jason do something like what he did to me... after everything I'd overcome from when I was kid. Everything I'd fought to give myself in college and law school. I should have been smarter than to let someone like that influence me the way he did." 

"You couldn't have known what he was gonna do to you." 

"You might be right but... part of me knew he was different than when I met him. Two people from our group were bit after a while and he made me kill them. A few months passed by and he just... told me lie after lie about the other members of our group. Telling me they were plotting to kill the both of us or turn us over to this guy in this big community down in Georgia because he'd stolen some of their shit... and threatened to kill me if I didn't kill them first." Hannah paused and dropped her hands in her lap, wishing she could have been telling a different story. Wishing she would have killed him long before any of this could have happened. 

"And then that night-" Hannah cut herself short, leaning against his shoulder at the searing memory of the worst experience of her life, failing to will away the fresh tears burning behind her eyes. "That night he'd been particularly angry. He was wanting to go back to Atlanta and I didn't. I told him I would go north without him if I had to but I was never going back... I'd never seen him like that before."

Hannah paused a moment, feeling Daryl's hand move smoothly along her back. She swallowed hard and pressed on, hoping that this time would be the last time she'd have to confront these memories. Hoping this could be her opportunity to burn that bridge. 

"It didn't help he'd been drinking. But he hit me... clocked me with a mean right hook right in my cheek. Grabbed me and tried to drag me into this old piece of shit gas station... all of it happened so fast, I can't even- I can't even really remember anything. Until I got out and just fucking ran. But he caught up to me in the woods... Ripped my clothes off and-"

"Don't." Daryl interrupted, pulling her into his body and holding her there. "Don't say it." 

The two of them sat there, Hannah's tears falling silently down her cheeks as she tried to lay her past to rest and the experience with Jason right along with it. 

"C'mon." Daryl finally said, lifting Hannah's chin to look up at him and trying to move on from the subject. "I'm gettin' hungry. Let's hunt." 

Hannah nodded in agreement and the two of them slowly picked themselves up, gathered their things and turned to the east before Hannah paused and took Daryl's arm and stopped him. 

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Daryl." Hannah said quietly, a soft smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. 

Daryl returned the smile, not needing to say anything for her to understand he felt the same. He kissed her easily and nudged her hip, pointing them toward the woods to hunt like the perfect team she knew they were.


	14. Chapter 14

The woods were quiet and still, the air even hotter and more humid than before as Daryl and Hannah wandered between the trees, in search of anything they could hunt and bring back. Daryl walked slowly just ahead of her, holding his heavy crossbow easily in his lean, muscular arm before the slight sound of a twig snapped. The muffled sound of another footstep brought him to immediate attention and he quickly pulled his bow to aim, stepping cautiously around a tree and aiming toward a bush.

"Come out! Now!" He said firmly, Hannah bringing her gun up to aim right along side him. Aaron quietly emerged with his hands up and Daryl lowered his crossbow, glaring at him. 

"You can tell the difference between walkers and humans by sound?" Aaron asked, his hands slowly falling to his sides. Daryl said nothing in return and continued to watch him, Hannah stepping to his side as Aaron looked from Daryl to her and back. 

"Can you tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy? Rick doesn't seem to be an expert at that."

"Ain't much of a difference no more."

"Is that how you feel about your peop-"

"Why you followin' me?" Daryl interrupted, stepping closer as he visibly became more frustrated. Hannah took his arm in an attempt to keep from getting closer, Daryl shrugging her off and taking another step. 

"Didn't know I was. Came out to hunt rabbits... I know why you're out here. Mind if I join?" Aaron asked, appearing genuinely innocent as Daryl continued to watch him and took a step back. 

"Keep up." Daryl looked back at Hannah and she gave him a single nod, letting him step past her and back into the trees they'd originally been walking toward. Aaron gave Hannah a gentle smile and they both followed behind him, hiking their bags back up onto their shoulders. 

"Keep quiet." Daryl added firmly, reaching back and taking Hannah's hand in his. 

Daryl said nothing for a while, winding his way through various types of trees and bushes, still finding nothing to bring back through the gates. Aaron reached up and easily took Hannah's arm to get her attention and she let him step up to catch up with her, offering her his canteen. 

"Thanks." She said quietly, taking a slow drink and savoring the cool water as it moved down her throat.

"You're welcome." Aaron returned, giving her another easy smile. Hannah nudged Daryl's arm and offered it to him before he shook his head in refusal, looking away and back at the ground. 

"Just drink it." She insisted, putting it in his hand. Daryl took a long drink and handed it back to her before Aaron clipped it back onto his bag, catching her attention again.

"I know it's not really my business, but are you...?" He asked, looking up at Daryl and back at her. Knowing exactly what he was asking, Hannah almost shied away, feeling her skin grow hot and flushed in her chest and up into her cheeks. She said nothing but nodded, a smile starting to pull at the corner of her mouth when Daryl's hand squeezed hers and let go. Just beyond a thin line of trees ahead of them stood a lone black horse, grazing in a clearing of tall grass, his mane tangled from who knew how many months of life in the wild. 

"I've been trying to catch him for months. Bring him inside. His name is Buttons." Aaron said quietly, watching as the horse slowly looked up before returning to graze. Daryl gave him a curious look, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "One of the kids saw him run by the gate a while back. Thought he looked like a Buttons."

"You've kept tabs on him this whole time?" Hannah asked, watching easily.

"I haven't seen him for a while. I was afraid it was too late." Aaron continued, shrugging off his bag and searching through it to pull out a rope. "Every time Eric or I gets close he gets spooked."

Daryl slipped his crossbow across his chest and took the rope from Aaron and gathered it, looking over at Hannah as Aaron spoke up again. 

"Have you done this before?"

"Ah, my group did. They weren't out there that long... the longer they're out there, the more they become what they really are." Daryl said, pulling the rope on his shoulder and looking back out toward the grass. He stepped out into the clearing and slowly approached the grazing horse and Hannah followed close behind, watching eagerly as he tried coax the horse into staying still long enough to let him loop the rope around his neck. 

The clouds receded and the sun shone through, the air becoming hotter and bringing a sheen of sweat to everyone's foreheads, Hannah and Aaron still slowly and cautiously waiting as Daryl stepped even closer to Buttons. 

"Hey. I ain't gonna hurt ya. Alright? C'mon boy. You just keep on eatin'." Daryl said, his voice gentle as Buttons continued to eat, moving in to mere inches away from him. "Yeah, good boy. You used to be somebody's, huh? Now you're just yours."

The sudden loud crack of branches snapped off toward the trees and Buttons reared back, letting out a loud neigh before turning around and running toward the opposite side of the grassy clearing. Hannah pulled Daryl's arms back toward her and pointed to their left, a group of walkers quickly closing in on the three of them. 

"C'mon they're comin'!" Daryl yelled, pulling himself away from Hannah and plunging a blade into the head of a walker that seemed to come out of thin air. 

Hannah quickly pulled her knife from her belt and rushed behind Daryl, stabbing her blade into the skulls of three walkers before Daryl turned toward her, checking to make sure she was safe. 

"You alright?" He asked, pointing at her foot. 

"I'm good." 

"C'mon." He said as Aaron tucked his own blade away. 

The three of them quickly turned back toward the woods and Daryl listened carefully, turning to the east in hopes of catching Buttons before he ventured off too far. Continuing through the maze of trees, Hannah pushed through the sharp ache of her ankle without a word, praying silently that they'd return to Alexandria sooner rather than later. 

"You ride horses?" Aaron asked after a while, stepping uneasily over branches as they continued forward.

"Ride bikes." Daryl answered. 

"Take it you don't mean ten-speeds." Aaron joked. "What about you, Hannah?"

"No, not really. I have before, but, not in a while."

"I know you're feeling like an outsider. I'm sure both of you are. It's not your fault you know. Eric and I - we're still looked at as outsiders in a lot of ways." Aaron offered, his words oddly comforting as Hannah walked just a step behind Daryl. "We've heard our fair share of well-meaning but hilariously offensive sayings from some otherwise really nice men and women... People are people. The more afraid they get, the more stupid they get." 

Hannah laughed at that and smiled back at Aaron who held onto his rifle, giving her a knowing smile back. 

"Fear shrinks the brain." He continued, looking toward Daryl who still stayed quiet. "They're afraid of you and me for different reasons. They're less scared of me because they know me. Less and less every day. So, let 'em get to know you... You should go to Deanna's party tonight." 

"I ain't got nothin' to prove. There're a lotta bad people out here. Done a lotta bad shit. They weren't afraid 'a nothin'." Daryl finally said, taking Hannah's hand in his and looking back at her, his face somber and somewhat saddened as he pressed on. 

"Yeah they were." Aaron said, giving away nothing. 

The harsh rasps of walkers came from another clearing ahead and Daryl rushed forward, Hannah and Aaron quickly catching up to him, knives in hand. Buttons ran swiftly through the tall grass and Daryl ran ahead, one of his arrows piercing the head of walker just before Aaron suddenly lost his footing and fell to the ground. 

"Shit!" Hannah gasped, grabbing her gun before Aaron uneasily sat up and cut the hand of a walker off of his pant leg. Daryl appeared a second later and stomped on it's head, catching another as it stalked towards him and throwing it's head against the hardened carcass of a dead cow. Another walker crept just behind Daryl before he stood, coming close enough for Hannah's stomach to turn and her instinct to pull the trigger, it's rotted blood spraying the grass and both men in front of her.

"Thanks." Aaron said quickly, getting to his feet. Daryl gave her a quick nod and patted at her hip, a thankful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Hannah stood back and watched as Daryl turned around to wipe off his hands and picked up his crossbow, turning her attention to Aaron a second later, who's face quickly gave away an imminent sense of danger.

"Hannah! Move!" Aaron shouted, lifting his rifle just as she ducked down and he pulled the trigger, a walker falling to ground just a foot behind her. 

"Thanks." Daryl said quietly for her, nudging Hannah's arm and turning to run toward the sound of Buttons just across the clearing. 

"Thank you." Hannah said to him as they caught up with him 

Just ahead, Daryl slowed to a stop as Buttons struggled to stay standing, desperate neighs crying out into the clearing as a group of walkers took him to the ground and tore into his flesh. In less than a minute's time, the horse was silent, his intestines pulled and shredded by the walkers desperate to fill their bellies, his blood spraying over their dead flesh and into the grass surrounding him. 

"Oh my god." Hannah breathed, covering her open mouth and placing her hand on Daryl's shoulder, tears burning the backs of her eyes while Daryl and Aaron watched with heartbreaking disappointment as the horse was slowly devoured. 

"I got the one on the right." Daryl said, pulling one of his arrows from his crossbow and stepping forward. He took aim and it sank through it's skull, moving closer to the commotion and pulling his knife from his belt. Hannah tightened her grip on her own and followed close behind him, moving in to plunge her blade into the head of another preoccupied walker, watching the horse's ribcage slowly rise and fall as it struggled to breath. Aaron came around to stand at Buttons's head and looked down at him, his expression full of regret and disappointment as Hannah and Daryl killed off the last remaining walkers. They both stepped away and Aaron stood frozen, watching as the dead horse's head started to stir in front of him. 

"Go ahead." Daryl said quietly, standing back and bringing his hand to the small of Hannah's back. He looked at her and held her gaze, kissing her cheek just before Aaron pulled the trigger of his rifle, silence falling among them. 

"He always ran." He said simply. 

"You were tryin' to help 'em." Daryl offered, turning away and pulling Hannah along with him.

Under a familiar blanket of silence, the three of them made their way back toward Alexandria, Hannah feeling herself struggle to keep up with Daryl before finally saying anything. 

"Daryl, wait a sec-" She said softly, leaning on a tree. 

"You okay?" Aaron asked, stopping in his tracks as Daryl turned around and came back to her. 

"I just- shit, I just need a minute." Hannah said, her voice laced with struggle as she fought the pain that was now throbbing in her ankle and all the way up her leg. 

"Let me see it." Daryl said, kneeling down in front of her as she lifted her foot onto his knee. He rolled up the pant leg of her jeans, pulled off her boot and reared his head back, her ankle swollen and angry, dark shades of grey and purple creeping up her leg as he unwrapped her ace bandage. Dried and fresh blood stained the bright white of the gauze wrapped around her ankle and Daryl sucked in a seething gasp between his teeth, carefully pulling down the edge of her sock to see blood slowly leak from under her bandages. 

"Oh my god..." Aaron said slowly, leaning down close and taking a good look. 

"OW. Daryl- jesus, stop." Hannah cried out, shoeing away his hands as he turned her ankle slightly. 

"I think you might've busted some of your stitches, Hannah." Aaron said as he handed Daryl a roll of gauze from his bag. 

"Shit." Hannah sighed, chewing on her lip as Daryl carefully wrapped her ankle. 

"I'm carryin' you the rest of the way."

"No. No, don't. I can walk on it. It just hurts."

"You ain't fuckin' walkin' on it, no." Daryl said, his tone stern and defensive. 

"You're gonna kill your back, Daryl." Hannah argued.

"I'd rather have a sore back for a few hours than you fuck up your ankle more than you already have. Look at that thing." He said, standing up and pulling her into his arms, picking her up like it was nothing. 

"Wait, let me at least take off my bag. Aaron, could you?" Hannah said, looked back at him from over Daryl's shoulder. 

"Of course, yeah." 

Daryl stopped and let her feet touch the ground just long enough for her to hand Aaron her bag and waited for him to pull it onto his shoulder, quickly picking her back up a moment later. 

"Do you think you'll go tonight?" Aaron asked, breaking the silence. Daryl shrugged his shoulders as much as he could carrying her and Hannah looked over at Aaron, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought it over. 

"I really don't know." She answered, moving her fingers through Daryl's hair as if it were an old habit. 

"You should."

Daryl looked up at her, his expression somber and tired. Hannah again weighed the pros and cons of going to whatever kind of 'party' Deanna was throwing, but deep in the pit of her stomach, she still couldn't quite get over the crippling fear of judgment. The people here would never be able to relate to what had happened before she got here, they would never understand the kind of desperation that coursed through her veins when face to face with a predator.

After a while, Daryl paused just long enough to put Hannah down and kneel down in front of her, waiting while she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and took her weight on his back. Hannah smiled and kissed at the soft patch of hair behind his ear, her hand slowly moving along his chest just as they finally came up on asphalt. Somehow, it it didn't take nearly as long for the three of them to find their way back to the gates of Alexandria as they managed to get there just before the sun set, long shadows casting across the streets. Aaron said his goodbye and left for his own home as Hannah slid off of Daryl's back and they turned the opposite way, making their own way slowly toward the house that they could now, somewhat, consider a home. 

Daryl was quiet for the rest of the afternoon, sitting on his own on the porch with his crossbow, tinkering with it's wires and adjusting the various parts that Hannah would probably never learn. She stood just inside the window in the kitchen and watched him, a gentle and quiet blanket of affection bringing a warmth to her very being as she watched him just be. Somehow just having him close made the world easier to live in. Knowing he was around gave her an unwavering sense of security, but even knowing him the way she did, Hannah couldn't help but worry that Alexandria would never see it. He was so closed off from them - not that she could blame him - that she wondered if they would ever really accept who he was. Or if they'd ever see that he was entirely too good for the world they were living in. 

Hannah stood for another few minutes before turning and making her way slowly upstairs and into the closet of the bedroom she and Daryl now shared. Clothes had been dropped off the previous day and she'd yet to try any of them on, unable to remember what it felt like to wear clean clothes even after her own had been clean this morning. She pulled a simple cotton navy blue V-neck dress from it's hanger and slipped it on, pulled on a denim jacket and a pair of sandals and made her way back downstairs, fixing her hair into a neater pony tail as she limped back into the kitchen and found a first aid kit. Daryl stood at the kitchen counter, glass of water in hand and looked over at her, his face contorting into one of confusion when she walked up to him. 

"I uh... think I'll stop by that thing for a few minutes." Hannah said softly, rummaging through the kit and finding a handful of steri-strips. "And I mean like, ten minutes because I'm going to suffocate if I stay any longer."

"Sure you don't want to go see that doctor for that?" 

"I'd rather risk this than see him again. That dude gave me the creeps." She returned, leaning against the counter and carefully applying the adhesive strips.

"How?"

"I don't know, he just did. Something was just... off." Hannah added, using a napkin to carefully wipe off the dried blood from her skin and straightening back up.

Daryl nodded and stood with her, pulling her close as he settled his hand in the small of her back and brought his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. Hannah brought her hand to his cheek and kissed him softly, still holding warmly onto his arm. 

"If you really don't want to go, no one is going to make you. But I hope you do. Even for just a minute." Hannah said, wrapping her arms around him. "I think the biggest reason we feel like outsiders... is because we haven't really tried to be inside." She added, looking up at him. Daryl gave a slight nod and leaned his forehead on her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist. Hannah combed her fingers through the hair on the back of his head and kissed his cheek again, stepping away from him and toward the door, Daryl's hand holding gently onto hers and stopping her. 

"You're so beautiful." He said softly, his expression one that melted her heart. "Glad you're mine."

"I'm glad I'm yours." Hannah said easily, blushing as she smiled at him and turned to leave, the door closing softly behind her.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hannah, it's good to see you." Deanna said warmly, offering her hand to her. 

"You as well." She answered, giving her a half-assed shake as Deanna stepped up and offered her a glass of white wine. Hannah looked at it for a moment and debated, unable to even remember the last time she'd had wine. She looked over at the glass in Rick's hand and the amber liquid inside of it. 

"Actually, I'll have a glass of that." Hannah said, pointing at the whiskey in Deanna's husband's hand. Deanna gave her a surprised nod of approval and introduced her husband Reg, watching as he poured a couple of fingers of the rich whiskey into her glass. 

"Thank you. I can't stay long. This foot is in bad shape. I really just came by to say hello." 

"We certainly appreciate it... I understand this is an adjustment."

"It is. And it's really kind of you to open your home to us. Thank you." Hannah said, feeling nervous as other members of Alexandria looked over and watched her. Deanna waited, seeing the discomfort in Hannah's face. "It's just... a lot to be watched all the time. I don't mean to be rude or anything. But it's been a long time since I've... been a regular socializing human." Hannah offered, feeling her hands start to shake. 

"You don't have to explain." Deanna said kindly, giving her a warm smile.

"We can't even begin to imagine what you've experienced out there." Reg chimed in, his tone full of understanding and sympathy. "We know it'll take time for you to get to used to this." 

Hannah nodded and finished her drink, looking over at Rick who had made his way to the dining room, talking easily with the woman she assumed was Jessie, who he'd told her about earlier the previous day. Her husband, the community's doctor, stood just next to her, his arm holding a little too firmly to her waist as they spoke. Before she could get sucked into a conversation with anyone else, Hannah ducked into the kitchen and set down her glass, leaning against the counter to relieve some of the pressure on her ankle that had taken a turn for the worse. 

"I told you to keep it elevated." Pete's voice came from just behind her. Hannah snapped her head around to see him standing just mere inches from her, making her automatically uncomfortable. 

"I know. Aaron told me to stop by for a few minutes, so I did." Hannah said, her tone cautious. 

"Let me see it." He said, kneeling down, his eyes trailing along her body. 

"It's really okay. I just need to get back to the house." 

"You'll need to ice it." 

"Trust me, I will." 

Pete stood up and took another step closer, forcing Hannah to take a step back as she smelled the whiskey on his breath. She swallowed hard at the instinct to throw up and looked away, taking her glass in her hand as way to comfort herself in knowing she could at least knock his lights out if he came any closer. 

"So what's his deal?" Pete asked, leaning against the counter top and trying way too hard to seem casual. 

"Who's deal?"

"His." He said, motioning his head in Rick's direction.

"Uh... well I don't know that he has a deal." Hannah said, instantly offended. She turned to walk away and felt Pete watch her as she did, her hair standing up on the back of her neck at just the idea of his eyes on her. 

"Everything alright?" Maggie asked as Hannah started toward the door.

"Something about that dude is..." Hannah whispered, careful not to look back into the kitchen. "I don't even know. He's uncomfortable to be around."

"Isn't he the doctor here?" Glenn asked, looked across the room and into the kitchen as casually as possible.

"Yeah. He helped with my foot the other day... He's nice enough, but... I don't know. There's just something off. Think I'm gonna get outta here. This thing is killing me."

"Looks terrible..." Maggie said, her voice low as she looked down at Hannah's bruised and cut ankle. 

"It doesn't feel quite as bad as it looks, but any weight on it and I about come unglued. Probably shouldn't have gone outside the walls earlier." 

"You went out like that?" Glenn asked, surprised. Hannah shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window, noticing someone standing by the tree and looking in. 

"You guys enjoy the party." Hannah offered, her hand holding warmly to Maggie's arm before she turned to leave, slipping out the front door before anyone could notice. 

"I didn't think you were going to show." Hannah said as she walked up to the man who'd watched her from outside. The only one she would ever be okay with watching her every move. 

"I didn't think so either. Still don't."

"You're not missing anything anyway." 

"Anything good to drink at least?"

"Pretty good whiskey. They've got some beer in there. Heaven only knows how old it is, though." 

Daryl looked down at his feet and back over at the house, watching the shadows move from behind the white linen curtains. 

"You hungry?" Daryl asked, moving his hand easily along the back of her arm as she stepped toward him and leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her and she laid her head against his shoulder, holding his arms in her hands as they swayed together. 

"I could eat... but maybe we could sit for a while." Hannah said, looking up him, moving her hand to his chest and holding the edge of his vest. "We're always moving. It'd be nice to just be... still. Just for a little while." 

Daryl gave her a single nod and took her hand, bringing her to a set of porch steps and stepping up to the top, resting his arms on his legs. Hannah came up to his right and took her place on the step just below him, looping her arms with his and resting her head on his arm. Daryl leaned down and kissed the back of her head and Hannah ran her fingers through his hair, looking back up at him and giving him a small, easy smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder

"I love you." He said softly, his voice deep and rough in her ear. "I can be a real asshole. But I love you."

"Ever think maybe that might be a reason I love you back?" Hannah joked, crossing her injured leg over the other and resting her arms on Daryl's leg.

"Pft. Right."

"What'd you do before all this?" Hannah asked, looking back up at him, still leaning against him. 

"Nothin'."

"If you were a prostitute, it's okay." She joked, pinching his thigh. 

"Nah, literally, nothin'." Daryl said after he huffed a small laugh, moving his hand easily along Hannah's back. 

"You just sat around and did nothing?"

"Me an' Merle just drifted around." He answered, looking at his hands as he picked absently at his fingers. "He was an asshole. Simple minded and racist. Stupid... just like I used to be. 'Fore all this. 'Fore I met Rick." 

"He make it?"

"For a while, 'til about a year ago. Found 'em by an ol' mill chowin' on some guy and put 'em down when he came at me."

Hannah sat up and brought her arm around his back and laced her fingers with his, resting her chin on his arm and running her hand along the wings on his vest. 

"I'm so sorry." Hannah whispered, watching him carefully as he looked at the stairs underneath him. 

Daryl looked back at her and kissed her forehead, giving her hand a warm squeeze. Hannah gave a small smile to herself and nestled her head back into his arm, relishing in the deep sense of safety he always brought to her. It was moments like this that made her thankful to still be living, that she'd made the decision to follow him and his group. 

"Think I might head back to the house." Hannah said softly, loving the feel of his arms around her. 

"I'll come with you."

"Quick question though." Hannah said, sitting up. "Were you going to come inside?"

"Maybe... I dunno, I was thinkin' about it. I knew you were in there." He answered, earning a soft smile from her.

The two of them picked themselves up and turned back toward the house, walking slowly down the street before Aaron's voice caught their attention as he walked out of his front door and stood on the porch. 

"Daryl, Hannah, hey."

"Thought you were goin' to that party over there." Daryl said, pointing toward Deanna's. 

"Oh... I was never going to go because of Eric's ankle. Thank god." Aaron smiled.

"Why the hell'd you tell me to go then? And her?"

"I said 'try'. You did." Aaron said pleasantly, his words and expression proud of the fact that Daryl had been willing to at least give it enough consideration to walk all the way there. "It's a thought-that-counts thing."

"Alright." Daryl said simply as Hannah ran her hands slowly along his back before he turned to leave. 

"Come in. Both of you. Have some dinner... it's some pretty serious spaghetti." He offered, turning to open the door and leaving them outside to follow him. Daryl looked at Hannah and she nodded her head, smiling at the idea of a real, honest to god plate of food. Slowly, they walked up the porch steps and entered Aaron's home, the smell of garlic and italian spices immediately making Hannah's mouth water as they rounded a corner to see Aaron and Eric already sitting at the dinner table. 

"Hey, come on in, have a seat." Eric said, smiling at both of them while Aaron covered each plate in a heaping pile of pasta. "It's good to see you again."

"And you. How's your ankle?" Hannah asked as she and Daryl both took their places, their eyes catching the other's before Aaron poured them each a glass of wine.

"Could be worse. Although, Aaron told me yours is in much worse shape than mine."

"We'll just say our jaunt outside the walls was a bit premature for me to say the least."

Eric nodded and turned toward his plate of food, twirling his fork before taking a bite. 

"You ain't goin' out for a while." Daryl added, lifting a giant forkful of pasta to his mouth. 

Daryl ate quickly, taking larger bites than necessary as if at any moment his plate would be taken and he would go hungry again. Hannah watched and bit down on her smile, trying and damn near failing to refrain from laughing at the inner child she knew he could be. Aaron watched as he took another oversized bite of pasta, slurping it into his mouth before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Eric and Aaron each exchanged looks of surprised amusement before Aaron looked to Hannah, her cheeks flushing pink as she mouthed 'I'm sorry' and smiled at both of them. 

"Thanks." Daryl said simply, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and his hands on his napkin, picking up his glass before Eric spoke up.

"Mm, when you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something, Mrs. Neidermeyer is really looking for a pasta maker. And we're all trying to get her to shut up about it... I mean, we have crates of dry pasta in here, but... she really wants to make her own or something... but I honestly think she just wants something to talk about, so. If you see one, out on your travels, that'll go a long way to-" Eric's rambling topic trailed off as Aaron gave him an odd look. Daryl and Hannah watched them, each of them curious yet cautious before Eric looked down at his pasta. "I thought it was done... you didn't ask him already?" He asked Aaron, playing with the pile of noodles still on his plate. Hannah looked at her own plate and took another bite, watching as Daryl looked up at Aaron, his expression full of caution and curiosity. 

"Ask me what?"

Aaron said nothing before he stood from his seat and motioned for Daryl to follow him. He opened a door that lead into a garage and turned on the light, following Daryl and closing the door behind them. 

"What was all that?"

"He wants Daryl to replace me as the other recruiter." Eric said, sitting back and taking a sip of his wine. 

"Does Deanna know this?"

"It's why she hasn't given him a job yet. He asked her not to." He answered, nodding. 

A sense of relief washed over her and Hannah relaxed into her chair, taking a drink from her own glass and letting it's warmth spread through her body. She thought back to the day before when he'd been so disappointed at the idea of not being assigned a job and smiled, thankful she'd been wrong all a long. 

"Do you think he'll take it? Aaron told me he rode bikes - he's been collecting all these random parts for months. He doesn't even know what most of them are, but... with Daryl possibly knowing his way around a motorcycle, sounds like the job would be perfect for him. You think he'll go for it?" Eric asked as Hannah stood up from the table and gathered everyone's plates. She stood for a moment and gave it a second's thought, knowing that despite Daryl's unease here so far, she knew he'd take the job. If not for having something to occupy his time, but for the plain fact that both she and Daryl knew he needed that time away. 

"Yes, I do." She finally answered, a gentle smile pulling at the corner of her mouth as she set the stack of dishes in the sink.   
Hannah walked up to the door that lead to the garage, hearing the muffled sounds of conversation and leaned in closely in an attempt to hear the words being exchanged. She pressed her ear to the door and listened carefully, her arms crossed over her chest while she held her breath to listen.

"You want me riskin' mine, right?" Daryl's voice said quietly.

"Yeah, because you know what you're doing. You're good out there. But... You don't belong out there. I know it's hard getting used to people getting used to you. And, I understand. Right now, you need to be out there sometimes. So do I... But, the main reason why I want you to help me recruit is because... you do know the difference between a good person and a bad person."

Hannah smiled and closed her eyes at hearing someone tell him what he needed to hear, tears burning behind her eyes at the idea that someone here could see what she could. 

"Alright, well... Got nothin' better to do." Daryl answered a moment later and Hannah nodded her head, stepping away from the door before she could be caught eavesdropping and went about washing the dishes. 

"No no no, you sit down. You're a guest and your foot looks horrible."

"I really don't mind." Hannah said, smiling as she took her place back at the table and taking another long sip of her wine. 

"We're really glad you guys are here." Eric said easily. "It's good to have some fresh faces around here."

"We're certainly thankful to have someplace safe to stay." Hannah returned, giving an easy smile. 

"How're you guys doing so far?" He asked, picking up a towel and drying his hands as he looked over at her. 

"It's... hit and miss, honestly. There are moments when everything is fine and then there are moments when they're not."

"Well, just so you know, I think you guys are a good fit here." He added, nodding his head as he pulled his chair out and took his seat. "I know I don't know you guys very well... but from what I saw when we were out there, you guys are right to be cautious. Your whole group is so devoted to one another. It's... pretty incredible. So I get why you want to protect that. I get why you'd be reluctant to let such a big community get to know you."

"There's a lot that everyone here has avoided by staying behind these walls. It's difficult to describe what real terror and fear for your life feels like... and when you operate on that for as long as we have, it's hard to get out of that frame of mind and be... normal."

"The most important thing is that you're here and that you're safe." Eric said, nodding his head in gentle understanding. Hannah nodded with him and said nothing before she picked herself up from the table, leaving her empty wine glass and picking up her jacket. 

"Thank you." Hannah offered quietly, leaning against the counter for a moment before continuing. "I'm guessing he'll be in there with his new toys for a while, so I think I might head back to the house."

"You sure? We don't mind having you as long as you like."

"Yeah... it's been a long, long long day." Hannah said, a mild laugh escaping through her words. "And right now, I could really used a shower. I still smell like dead things." 

Eric gave her an easy nod and smiled, the silence between them comfortable, reminding her of better times with friends that were likely long gone. 

"Let him know I'll see him back at the house for me?"

"Of course." 

Before Hannah took a step toward the front door, the door to the garage opened and Daryl and Aaron emerged, Daryl's eyes immediately catching her across the room. Hannah gave Aaron a small smile as he said 'goodbye' from the kitchen and turned to leave, Daryl's hand holding warmly to the small of her back. 

"So what'd he say?" Hannah asked despite already knowing, the two of them descending the porch steps and turning toward their house. 

"If I'd go out and recruit with him."

Hannah took a moment to pause for good measure, bringing his arm around her neck and lacing her fingers with his as it hung down toward her breast while they continued to walk. 

"And?"

"Told him I'd do it."

Hannah looked up at him and gave him a smile, wrapping her other arm around his back when they stopped in front of the steps and faced one another. 

"I'm glad to hear it." She said, bringing her hands along his side and up to his chest. 

"C'mon." Daryl said, his voice low and gritty just before he scooped her into his arms and carried her into the house and up the stairs. 

The bedroom door closed behind them and Daryl tossed her onto the bed, an excited giggle escaping her as his hands moved up the skirt of her dress and pulled her panties off. With his body looming over hers, Hannah quickly pushed his vest from his shoulders and tossed it across the room, Daryl's lips moving ferociously along her neck and up to kiss her hard, his tongue slipping between her lips. 

Hannah pulled away, biting his lip and pushed him off of her and onto his back, moving to straddle him and unbuttoning his shirt. She swept her hands through his hair and sat up straight, giving him a wicked smile and climbing off of him. Daryl leaned up on his elbows and watched her, slipping out of his shirt as she did the same with her dress,. Hannah left it in a small heap on the floor and turned away from him, feeling his eyes glued to her every move as she left him wanting and desperate and walked into the bathroom. 

The water came on a second later and Hannah slipped into the smooth tiled stall, biting her bottom lip when she heard his belt hit the floor with a loud clank. Hannah slid open the glass door and Daryl's arms immediately pulled her into his body, his lips pressing into the skin of her shoulder and her skin automatically tingling and hot at his touch. 

"I'm so fucking proud of you, Daryl." Hannah breathed into his kiss. "Now fuck me like you mean it." 

Daryl needed no further urging before he hastily wrapped his arms around her and backed her against the cool tile wall. Hannah reached between them and took all of his cock in her hand, biting her lip at the feel of his lips kissing hard along her shoulder and neck. She started to slowly stroke him, earning her a moan from deep in his belly before he took her hand away from him and took all of her weight in his arms. 

Hannah barely had time to take another breath before Daryl thrust into her and held tight to her hips. Hannah reached up and held onto his neck, biting her bottom lip as he started moving inside of her. Soft grunts escaped from his throat and Hannah moved one of her hands down along his chest and held it along his ribs, breathy moans making their way out of her chest before Daryl moved in to kiss her. 

"Holy shit, Hannah-" Daryl choked, bringing his hand underneath one of her knees and pulling it up along his side. "You're so fuckin' tight."

Hannah bit her bottom lip and gave him a wicked smile, bringing one of her legs down to support her weight and reached between their soaking bodies. Daryl still held tight to her hip and fucked even harder, the muscles in his stomach and arms flexing along Hannah's body. 

"Oh go- Daryl! Fuck, harder!" Hannah moaned, her breath catching in her lungs as the first wave of her release swept through her. But instead of giving her what she wanted, Daryl slowed down to a stop and kept himself buried deep in her core, his chest heaving while he caught his breath. 

"Turn around." He said, his voice nearly a growl as he pulled himself out of her. He kept his hands on her waist and Hannah turned around, arching her stomach toward the wall and letting a wanting hiss escape from between her teeth as he again filled her completely. Daryl moved his hands along Hannah's waist and brought one of them to her breast, teasing and tugging her nipple while he started thrusting hard behind her. 

"Jesus Chr-" Hannah choked, giving into the blissful waves he was working her into. The sound of their movements filled the space and their wanting voices echoed within the tile walls of the shower and Hannah could barely contain herself, her volume growing louder as she felt a hot rush of fluid coat her thighs. Daryl moved his hand between her legs and rubbed her clit, stealing her ability to think straight as she grabbed at his hand that was still holding her breast and gently tugging her nipple. 

Daryl pulled Hannah's body closer into his and moved his lips along her shoulder, kissing his way up to her neck until she turned toward him, meeting his kiss with a desperate sense of need. A moment later, he slowly backed away from her and turned Hannah around before he leaned back against the wall. Hannah returned to him and he held onto her hips, sliding their bodies down and sitting on the floor and bringing her down onto his lap. The water beat down on Hannah's back while she faced him and leaned forward, moving up and down in his lap. 

"Shit-" Daryl said from between his teeth, his chest heaving while he tightened his grip on her hips. "That's fuckin' it, don't you stop that." He grunted as Hannah tightened herself around him.

"Come with me." Hannah breathed, heat flushing her chest bright red and moving up to her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he looked directly into her eyes, rolling her hips on top of him. Daryl pressed his lips to hers, both of them completely lost in the feel of each other until a thundering wave of pure bliss swept through them. Hannah's breath caught in her lungs and she kissed him hard, Daryl's hands moving smoothly along her wet skin and moaning into the dwindling waves of the orgasm they'd shared. 

The two of them stayed there holding one another for several moments, losing track of anything around them and relishing in the feel of the streaming water beating down on their skin and the other's lips moving in delicious waves against their own. Hannah pulled away and looked at him, a strange thought entering her mind as she felt him twitch inside of her still pulsing core. 

"We need to really be careful from here on out." She said smoothly, moving her hands along his neck and shoulders. 

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean, if we aren't careful Judith won't be the youngest person in Alexandria."

Daryl said nothing but looked up at her, his hands still holding her hips warmly as the water cascaded down their skin, the expression on his face telling her that maybe that wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. She chewed on her lip for a second and pulled herself from his lap, taking his hands in hers and waited for him to stand with her. Hannah pulled him under the shower head and watched the water fall down his face, wondering if perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she were to get pregnant. Times had certainly been tougher. At least now they had stable food and shelter- and having the walls around them helped. The look on his face after she'd brought it up seemed saddened at her caution. All she wanted to do was see him safe and happy, would giving him a family be something they could handle? Could that be something that could be a possibility now? Hannah gave him a small smile and moved her fingers through his hair, watching him carefully before wrapping her arms around his waist. 

"Is that... something you want?" She asked, feeling her stomach flutter. Daryl just looked at her and pressed his forehead to hers, not saying anything until Hannah finally spoke up again. 

"I mean it... is it?"

"No." He said simply, visibly shutting down. 

"It's not?" Hannah asked, her eyebrows furrowed in the confusion of mixed messages.

"No, it's not." 

"Don't do this now, Daryl." Hannah said, her tone full of irritation, fully aware of what he was trying to do. 

"Don't do what?"

"After everything we've talked about, of all the sensitive shit we've discussed, you shut down on something you might want?"

"I ain't shuttin' down-"

"Then why is it when I bring it up, you look at me like that and tell me something that seems like it's the exact opposite of what you're thinking?" 

"Look at you like what?"

"Like maybe you would want me to have a kid with you."

Daryl just looked at her, frustrated that she knew him well enough to know when he was putting up a front. 

"Do you?" She asked, moving her hands up to rest on his chest. 

He paused for a long moment and didn't say anything, Hannah searching in desperation for an answer he may not give her. 

"I don't know."

"That's bullshit."

"No it ain't. Never thought about it." 

"That's bullshit, too." Hannah said, irritated. "Daryl, this is serious."

Hannah reached behind him and shampooed his hair and then her own, still waiting patiently for him to give her at least an idea of what was going on in his head. But after they were both rinsed and she turned off the water, he still hadn't said anything, biting hard at the inside of his bottom lip while he watched her step out of the shower and dry off. Hannah walked back into the bedroom and sat at the foot of the bed, not really knowing where his head was. It was strange to think that just a few minutes before he'd given her the kind of look that screamed he'd wanted a family with her, but now she wasn't so sure. 

Daryl walked back into the bedroom, his towel hanging loosely from his hips like it had the night before, making him damn near irresistible despite the conversation he had abandoned. Hannah chewed uneasily at the inside of her cheek and moved back on the bed to lean against the headboard and propped her foot up on a sturdy throw pillow, wondering if he would ever find it in himself to be as open with her as she was with him. He'd seemed to have made a lot of progress in doing so to this point, but what was it about the subject of a family that made him so uneasy? Hannah watched him carefully while he looked over at her briefly and left the room, leaving the door just barely open and returning a few minutes later with a bag of ice in hand. 

He grabbed a hand towel from the bathroom and took his place down by her feet, wrapped the bag inside the towel and set it gently on her injured ankle, leaving his hand to rest on her leg before he finally looked at her. 

"Shouldn'ta said I didn't want one." He said softly, rubbing his other hand along the side of his face. "It's just..."

"There's a lot of risk that comes with it." Hannah said, dropping her hands in her lap. 

"Don't wanna see it come to the point that I'll lose you."

"What makes you think that'll happen?"

"I dunno. There ain't anyway of checkin' in on the kid while you're carryin' it. What if somethin' happens?"

"Daryl-"

"No, I'm serious. What if somethin' happens when you have it an' I can't get to you, or what if-"

"Daryl, you can't think like that."

"Babe, we have to. Shit like that is serious. What do you think happened to Rick's wife? Shit went bad at the prison and she had the kid on the floor in a boiler room. Maggie told me she nearly had to cut her in half to get Judith out..."

"Daryl-"

"And Carl? Poor kid not only had to watch all that, but then he was the one that shot her so she wouldn't turn."

"Daryl, I promise. If anything happens- if I do get pregnant, I promise you that I won't let anything like that happen."

"I just... now I don't know if we should even do anything anymore."

"Don't you dare do that to me." Hannah joked, smiling at him and nudging his thigh with her good foot. Daryl gave her a weak laugh and gave her leg a gentle squeeze, looking over at her again. 

"You're the first girl I ever even THOUGHT about this with. If anything were to happen to yo-"

"Daryl, stop. We'll just be careful from here on out. As much as you may not want to when it happens, you've got to pull out."

Daryl fell back to lay down and Hannah brought her foot up to rest on his stomach, feeling the events of the day start to weigh heavily on her eyelids. Time floated by easily and the two of them laid there together, catching themselves dozing in and out of unconsciousness before Daryl finally sat up and lazily pulled himself under the covers. He grabbed Hannah's waist and brought her body into his, wrapping his arm warmly around her waist. Hannah laced her fingers with his and smiled to herself, in love with the feel of his lips kissing softly along her neck. 

"I do want one with you." Daryl said, breaking their long, easy silence. Hannah turned to look up at him, a smile tugging at her mouth before he continued. "Think we oughta wait... but yeah." 

"We should at least let the dust settle here before we go domesticating ourselves." 

Daryl laughed and kissed her again, his hands moving slowly along her skin under the covers to rest on her stomach and making Hannah's skin tingle. She blushed and held his hand again, hoping that someday, they would have the chance to do exactly what they wanted together.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hannah."

Daryl's voice was deep and gritty as Hannah's eyes fluttered open. The morning was still early and the sun was barely up when she felt him sit at the edge of the bed at her hip, his hand resting in the curve of her waist with his thumb moving slowly. 

"You've been up before sunrise all week." Hannah complained into her pillow, her face still semi buried as she looked up at him with one eye. It'd been nearly an entire week since Aaron had asked Daryl to recruit with him and he'd been busy ever since, pouring hours of time into building himself a bike with the parts that Aaron had been collecting. 

"I know." He said quietly, looking down at the floor. "Sorry I ain't spent a whole lotta time with you."

Hannah leaned up on her elbow and rubbed at the sleep in her eye, brushing her hair back out of her face before she held his wrist and gave him a small smile. 

"You've got a job to do. Nothing to be sorry about for that." She said gently, moving her hand along his lean forearm before reaching up to hold along his jaw. 

"Barely seen you, seems like." 

"You haven't. Using those crutches kills my arms, so I don't think I've made it further than next door since that party." 

Daryl said nothing in response and looked down at the floor, his free hand fumbling with itself as Hannah continued to watch him. To see him with a new purpose gave Hannah an unwavering sense of pride and calm, like things were finally where they needed to be, at least for now. The imminent danger of the world they lived in would of course change that given enough time, but at least for now, seeing him feel responsible for something other than the protection that had become the usual was a welcome change. 

"Hey. I've got a working man now. It's a good reason to miss you around here." 

Daryl nodded and brushed some of Hannah's hair back, chewing at the inside of his lip like he did when he had too much on his mind. 

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, bringing herself to sit up with him. 

"I gotta go out on a run." 

Hannah's stomach dropped and she swallowed hard, worry taking a fierce hold of her insides and twisting them in sickening knots. It didn't make sense that she was so worried, he'd spent about the same amount of time moving from place to place fighting dead things around every corner as she had. But something about not being able to go with him pitted a deep sense of unease in her stomach and Hannah could hardly deal with it. 

"What are you going out for?"

"Just seein' what we can find." 

Daryl turned more toward her and Hannah leaned into his body, bringing her hand to hold at the back of his neck while she wrapped her other arm around his shoulder. 

"How long will you be out there?" She asked, holding him close and closing her eyes as she hoped he'd have a real answer.

"Dunno." He said quietly, giving her an uneasy look. 

"Are you leaving now?" 

"He's gettin' his car goin'. I gotta meet him at the gate here in a minute." 

Daryl kept his eyes on the floor and Hannah slowly moved her hand back and forth across his shoulders, feeling the familiar frayed wings that symbolized everything he was for her. The one person she knew would always be there to save her, whether from the world around them or from herself. 

"Can I see it?" Hannah finally asked, resting her chin on his shoulder. 

"See what?"

"The thing that's stolen you away from me all week." 

"Ain't nothin' special." 

"Doesn't matter." Hannah smiled, pulling herself from under the warm sheets to stand in front of him, taking his wrists in her hands and leaning in to whisper in his ear. "I can only imagine how fuckin' hot you look on a bike." 

"Stop." Daryl said after huffing a small laugh and standing up with her. Hannah patted her hand on his cheek and gave him a cute smile before she walked into the closet and pulled on a pair of jeans. She quickly pulled on the rest of her clothes and grabbed her boots, walking back out to the bedroom to put them on and unsteadily follow Daryl downstairs. 

Around the corner from the stairs, Rick sat quietly at the kitchen counter with Judith planted happily on his lap. She smacked her hands against the cool, hard surface and looked up at Hannah, giving her the same adorable smile she always did before she leaned in close to kiss her cheek. 

"Good morning." Rick said, his voice as smooth as silk. 

"Morning." Hannah returned, stopping at the side of the counter and playfully teasing Judith as she went to tickle her sides and tummy, earning her excited laughs that made the world feel like a better place. Daryl returned the sentiment and knelt down next to Hannah, lifting her injured ankle up onto his knee and taking a close look. 

"It's better now." Hannah said, looking down and slowly rolling her ankle. "Really better." 

"Mean it this time?" He asked, giving her a look of mild disbelief. 

"I do, yeah." 

"Mm. Still bruised all over. You ain't goin' nowhere for another while yet." 

"Shit..." Hannah groaned, covering her mouth when Judith looked up at her again and smiled. 

"She's a little young to be repeating what you say." Rick laughed. "You and Aaron headin' out?" He asked, turning his attention to Daryl. 

"Soon as she gets her ass out here to see this bike, yeah." 

"Says the one who told me I can't go anywhere." Hannah complained, playfully rolling her eyes and making her way toward the door. Daryl stayed behind a moment and she took her time descending the steps to the sidewalk, easing her way to sit down. The door closed behind her a moment later and Daryl's footsteps came behind and around her before he came down the stairs and stood in front of where Hannah sat. He buttoned up the thick, long-sleeved shirt she'd found in the stack of clothes Deanna had had sent over for them, leaning back on the seat of his new bike. 

Hannah watched him easily for a few moments, loving the sight of him looking just the right about of poised and relaxed, knowing he had a job to do and ready to do what needed to be done. The bike itself was a masterpiece of mismatched parts welded together, all of them twisted into a kind of Frankenstein-esque motorcycle that he proudly leaned on. Just watching him in those few moments brought Hannah an immense sense of pride, knowing Aaron had brought him a renewed sense of purpose along with a hobby it was obvious he had missed and loved. She made a mental note to thank Aaron for what he'd done before she picked herself up and hobbled over to him, giving him a gentle smile. 

"This thing looks like a death trap." She teased, holding her hand on one of his arms to pull him toward her. 

"Just another way I'd rather go out than by one 'a those things." 

"It looks great, though. You be careful." Hannah said, her voice quiet and heavy with meaning. "And you better come back to me."

"Ain't makin' promises. But I gotta job to do. So I'm gonna do it."

Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, one of her hands holding easily at the back of his head and combing through his soft hair. As much as she understood his need to have his space and go do something that mattered, Hannah couldn't ignore her selfish need to have him close, if only to keep him safe from harm. 

"I love you." She whispered in his ear, keeping her cheek pressed warmly to his. Daryl brought his arms around her waist and Hannah fought the urge to let her burning tears fall, swallowing hard at the ball of unease in her throat. 

"Love you." Daryl returned, kissing her cheek before Hannah brought her lips to his and kissed him back. 

"I'll see you soon." She said as she pulled away to look at him. 

Daryl pressed his forehead to hers for a brief second before he turned around and hiked his leg over his bike and sat down, starting the engine with a fierce kick start. 

"Shit, wait!" Hannah shouted over the loud rumble of the engine and reaching into her back pocket. Daryl looked over at her and squinted, his slight look of confusion resolving when she handed him a pair of sunglasses she'd found in a random drawer in their bedroom. 

"I found these the other day. I dunno if you'll want or need to use them, but you might as well complete the aesthetic." She said loudly over the engine. Daryl gave her a small smile and tucked the sunglasses into his vest, watching as she turned back toward the house. Hannah looked back at him and he gave her a lazy wave before he pulled away, watching him as he rode off toward the gates and away from her for who knew how long. 

"Deanna finally gave him a job?" Rick's voice cut through the stillness of the morning as Hannah stood and watched the gates slowly closing behind Daryl's bike and the car Aaron was following him in. She turned around to look up at Rick standing on the porch, a cup of coffee in hand and his damp hair slicked back. 

"No." She said, coming back up the stairs. "Aaron did." 

"Aaron?"

"I guess he told Deanna not to give him one. Had his sights on him as a recruiter all along." Hannah continued proudly, moving toward the door. Rick pulled it open for her and followed her inside, watching as she leaned against the wall. 

"Good call on their part. " Rick finally said, pouring the last bit of coffee into a mug and taking a drink. Hannah nodded in agreement and stayed quiet, wondering what would lie ahead for herself once her foot made it's full recovery. 

Deanna had made a short visit just a few days before, bringing a small stack of books about government theory and law with her and leaving them for Hannah to busy herself with. She had reluctantly taken them and tucked them away into the nightstand next to her bed, dreading actually opening them to take Deanna's offer seriously and help create a governing system with her and Maggie. 

"She made a good call making you constable, too." Hannah said with an easy smile, crossing her arms just under her chest. Rick looked down at the mug in his hand and took another drink, gently nodding. "How's it been so far?"

"It's been pretty uneventful. I'm actually about to head out and to do some rounds, check the wall." 

"The responsibility suits you." Hannah smiled, turning to go upstairs. "Will you be back later, then?"

"That's the plan."

"Alright, well, I think I'll shower while I've got the place to myself." 

Rick waved his goodbye and Hannah disappeared up the stairs to undress. She left her clothes in a heap on the floor and made her way carefully into the bathroom, stepping into the shower and turning on the water in an attempt to distract herself from the crippling worry that the love of her life might not return like she'd made him promise.

***

The door into the house opened and closed quietly as Rick walked inside, giving Hannah a gentle nod where she sat curled into the corner of the couch. Hannah waved and set down the mind numbingly dry book she'd been failing to read on the table in front of her, thankful to have an excuse to finally put it down. 

"Anything exciting I'm missing out on?" She asked, folding her arms together in her lap. 

"If someone breaking a statue is exciting to you, maybe." 

"Guess I ought to get out there, then." Hannah joked. 

"You've been buried in those books that last few days..."

"Deanna brought them... and I'm struggling with it." She added, chewing at the inside of her cheek. 

"Are those about law and government?" Rick asked, squinting as he tried to read the titles from where he leaned against a kitchen column. 

"They are, yeah. Deanna wants me to help her and Maggie..."

"You sound hesitant..."

"Because I am."

"Why is that?"

Hannah gave him a quizzical look and thought for a moment, trying to remember if she had ever told him who she was in her life before the turn. 

"Did I ever tell you what I did for a living? Before all this?"

"No... I don't think you have." 

"I was a malpractice attorney in Atlanta."

"Seems like you'd be a good choice to me."

"Not when my emphasis was in corporate law and not public policy or constitutional law."

"I doubt that'll stop you from making this place run smoothly. Other than Deanna, you're probably the only person here even remotely qualified to do that."

"I'll be sure and tell that to Maggie." 

"Maggie is smart. She knows that. Every one of us knows that. But she also wasn't a lawyer like you were. You can understand why Deanna would choose you for that kinda thing." 

"I do, but..."

"And that's how we protect this place. How we protect our own. That's how we have to think now."

Hannah took a deep breath and rubbed at her temples, wishing he weren't right. Just as she had told Daryl, it was smart to have Rick in a position of authority. But now, the same could be said with Deanna wanting her at her side with Maggie making decisions, Hannah could also hold some authority and do some good. 

A knock at the door shook them from their conversation, both of them snapping their heads over to look at the door before Rick slowly walked over to open it. 

"Hey, Rick, I was having' a beer and thought I'd bring you one for helping' my wife today." Pete's voice said before he appeared just inside the door, obviously inviting himself in. 

"Ah, I'm good, but... thanks." Rick said, the two of them facing one another. Hannah watched them carefully, choosing not to say anything to avoid Pete seeing she was there and coming any closer. 

"Ah, don't tell me you're still on duty."

"Kinda always am, you know..." 

"Not at Deanna's party... I saw you, you had some, right? I know Hannah did." Pete pressed, looking just past Rick's shoulder and over at her. "I don't see how one beer would hurt. Hannah can join us, too." 

"You know, I wish I could've helped more today... I asked around, but nobody saw or heard anything." Rick said, trying to lead the conversation away from the subject of drinking. It was clear that this wasn't Pete's first drink of the day and Hannah couldn't help but judge him even more critically, his character becoming more and more distasteful than it already was the longer he was in the house. 

"Well, it was just an owl. Grand scheme of things, I think we'll live." 

"Yeah..." Rick said, passively agreeing with Pete after he gave him a brief smile and glanced over at Hannah. 

"I'm sorry, heard you lost your wife." Pete said, the look on his face condescending and the tone in his voice giving away his intention to get under Rick's skin. Hannah couldn't help but let her jaw drop at his audacity before she caught herself, quickly closing her mouth and swallowing hard at the instant anger she felt on Rick's behalf. 

"You know," Pete continued, "I'm sure it looks like we haven't lost much, but we have... We've lost things. Other things we're just fighting like hell to hold on to... Everything you people've been through, I don't know if you see that."

"We do." Rick said quietly, maintaining his composure more than Hannah ever could have if she had been in his place. 

"Bring your kids in for a check up. I know I offered you one, but they really should come in. They were out there a while, right?"

"Yeah, thanks Pete." Rick returned, staying in his place as Pete stepped up to him. 

"Let's be friends, man. We kinda have to be, right?"

"Yeah, we do."

"And we will... I'll see you, Rick. Hannah, take care of that ankle. Come and see me tomorrow." Pete said on his way out the door, a sly, unnerving smile spread across his face before he disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. 

Hannah remained silent and carefully watched Rick as he held his own hand and twisted his wedding band. The muscles in his jaw flexed and he lost himself in his obvious disgust in the man that never failed to leave a rhetorical bad taste in her mouth. 

"Guy's got some kinda sack on him, doesn't he?" Hannah finally said.

"He sure does." 

"Don't think he quite understands who you are." 

"I doubt he thinks he has to." 

"Guess he'll have to learn." Hannah offered, watching him walk over to the window and stare blankly at it, still lost in his own thoughts. 

"Guess so." 

Rick turned back around and stepped back toward the kitchen, moving to step past Hannah before she took his wrist in her hand and looked up at him. 

"Rick, I won't pretend to know what's going through your head, but I think we're both keen enough to know that guy isn't who he lets on. Whatever it is you need to do, do it without hesitation. We know what it takes in a world like this to survive. A guy like that doesn't. A group like theirs doesn't. Even when they think they do... Show them that."  
Hannah could hardly believe the words coming from her own mouth. But she also knew it was the right decision to prove to him she had his back. Rick nodded to her and turned to leave, disappearing out the door again to leave her on her own.

***

The hours drifted by and Hannah lost herself in a limbo between the boredom of Deanna's books and the worry that Daryl may not come back as much as she prayed to whatever God may still be out there that he would. She knew he was strong and smart and more than capable of taking care of himself, but she still couldn't quite let go of the devastating idea that something could happen to him and she wouldn't be there with him. 

Hannah lost all sense of time before the door to the kitchen opened yet again and Rick walked in, immediately getting himself a glass of water. The two of them didn't say anything and he sat down across from her, thinking to himself before she set down her book and sat quietly with him. 

A moment later, the door opened once again and Carol quickly closed it behind herself, leaning her back against it with a worried expression on her face. 

"Pete's hitting Jessie. Maybe Sam, too." 

They were the only words that rang through the silence of the room for good long while, the three of them looking slowly from one to the other. It wasn't a surprise to hear that Pete was abusive. In all honesty, Hannah thought to herself, he looked like the type to do it. Thinking back to moments at the party and glances she'd seen of him around Alexandria with Jessie, he'd been possessive in a way that wasn't necessarily obvious. But his mannerisms and the way he controlled, or thought he controlled, every conversation he was in made it obvious that he was the kind of person that relied on hurting others to make himself feel better. The realization hit Hannah with a sense of sadness for the family that had to suffer, knowing that she could relate in more ways than one. 

"And you know this how? Did Sam tell you?" Rick finally asked. 

"He didn't have to." Carol answered, looking over at Hannah with the kind of look that proved that she, too, understood what it was like to be hurt by someone who was supposed to love you. 

"Rick, I know how this is gonna go with Pete... there's only one way it can go." Carol continued, watching him approach the door without a word. "You're gonna have to kill him." 

Rick stood completely silent, the muscles in his jaw flexing like they always had earlier as too many thoughts flooded through his mind at once. 

"Rick..." Hannah finally said, standing up and stretching her limbs before she walked over closer to him. "You're gonna have to kill him." She continued, repeating Carol's words before slowly making her way up the stairs, hoping the words would sink in so that the world would be rid of one less worthless, dangerous human being.


	17. Chapter 17

"I need to borrow you." Rick's voice said into the still, quiet morning. 

"Hm, what?" Hannah asked groggily, looking over at the wall clock and wincing when she saw the early hour of 7:00. 

"I need to borrow you this morning." 

"What? Why?"

"I need to talk to Deanna about Pete. Think havin' you there with me in case she doesn't see the way it has to be might help."

"Okay, but you've said the whole time if they don't make it work with us, we'd take this place... what's the difference now?"

"If we're gonna do this, we need to be smart. If it comes to that, fine. But maybe having someone else there might help her see it." 

"Alright, well let me relearn how the universe works and I'll meet you downstairs." Hannah said, leaning up on her elbow and rubbing the sleep out of her eye. Rick nodded and disappeared, the sound of his footsteps fading as he walked downstairs. 

Hannah pulled herself from the warm sheets of her bed and looked at the empty side where Daryl normally slept, a sharp pang of longing pulling at every piece of her as she wondered where he was or what he was doing. And more importantly, if he was still alive. Slowly, she stepped into the bathroom and put herself together, pulling her hair into a messy bun and getting dressed before she turned for the stairs. 

"Morning." Glenn said quietly as he sat at the kitchen counter hunched over a cup of coffee. 

"Morning. You doin' okay?" Hannah asked, recognizing he wasn't in his usual state of mind. 

"No... no I'm not." 

"What happened?" She asked, pouring herself her own cup of coffee and turning to lean against the counter across from him. 

"Noah..."

"Noah... holy shit is he-"

"Killed yesterday... because Nicolas wouldn't listen..."

"Glenn, I-"

"I tried so hard to get everyone out of there."

Hannah brought her hand up to hold his shoulder and gave him a warm squeeze to prove she understood his guilt, wishing there was a way she could take it away. 

"I'm so sorry." She said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"Aiden was killed, too." 

"Deanna's son?"

"Yeah..."

"Shit." 

Rick came around the corner and placed his hand on Hannah's shoulder, stealing her attention from a man consumed in guilt. 

"I hope you're okay." Hannah added, stopping to give Glenn a warm hug before following Rick out the door. 

The morning air was crisp and the sun was bright, it's rays still coming from beyond the trees to the east. Hannah followed as closely behind Rick as she could, trying to keep her ankle as steady as possible before he finally slowed down. 

"Rick, you really think now is the best time to approach her about Pete? Her son was just killed..." 

"The timing's not ideal... I know... but if I don't do this now, it might be too late later on." 

"Yeah, but-"

"I can't let that happen. You know what Carol told me last night? She told me... that Sam told her about how Jessie put a lock on the inside of his closet for when it get's bad. And that it's gotten to the point where he's knocked her unconscious... You know I can't let that happen. I REFUSE... to let it go without consequence. Not anymore." Rick explained, his words growing more and more angry the more he said. 

Hannah nodded in understanding and abandoned her hesitancy, realizing he wasn't just doing this for Jessie or Sam's sake - he was doing this for his own. The attraction she'd noticed any time she'd seen them talking was more than obvious and she couldn't help but let him do what he could to protect someone he cared about. 

Both of them made a turn when they approached the wall at the end of the street, turning toward the small section of the community where graves marked those that had been lost so far. They passed a small row of dwarf pine trees and entered the makeshift cemetery to see Deanna standing alone, her arms crossed over her chest and her head slumped down as she stood in total silence at her son's grave. 

"I'm sorry for what happened... How're you holdin' up?" Rick asked, stopping just short of a few feet from her.

"I'm not." She answered quietly, dressed in all black and forcing herself to be stronger than she wanted to be. 

"We have a problem with Pete." He said, abandoning any gentle way of introducing the subject. Hannah gave him a stern look but said nothing, wishing she had the nerve to call him out on the insensitivity of ignoring her grief and getting straight to what would likely turn into an argument. 

"Hoped it'd get better." She said simply, refusing to look at either of them. 

"You knew?" Rick asked, taking a slight step toward her. 

"Deanna, you knew about that and didn't do anything?" Hannah chimed in, disregarding her irritation with Rick for her own disgust in knowing that Deanna could have possibly let abuse like what Rick and Carol had described go on. 

"It hasn't gotten better. It won't." Rick added, his frustration growing with every word. 

"Pete's a surgeon. Saved lives... might be saving Tara's life." Deanna said, finally turning toward them. 

"He's beating his wife. We have to stop it."

"How?"

"What do you mean, how?" Hannah asked in return. "You say you want a government, but you completely throw out the one from before like it never existed? You see an injustice and just... write it off beca- " 

"Hannah, stop." Rick held his hand up, gently holding her shoulder. "We separate them. Tell 'em that's how it'll be from now on." 

"What happens when he doesn't want to do that?" Deanna continued, walking up to them and watching them both carefully. 

"It's not his choice." Rick answered, remaining in his place and sticking to his argument. 

"What happens?"

"I kill him." His expression was like stone as he looked at Deanna and she looked back. 

"We, kill him." Hannah added. 

"We don't kill people." Deanna said, refusing to back down as she looked over at Hannah. "This is civilization, Rick."

"Warning someone to stop or die, that is civilized nowadays..."

"We can't just ignore that he could kill her." Hannah said, feeling tears start to burn at the backs of her eyes. "There has to be a consequence. We have to stop this."

Deanna shook her head in opposition and Hannah looked up at Rick, fighting even harder not to let the tears make it to the surface. 

"So what... we just, let him hit her? Let him kill her?"

"No. We exile him." Deanna answered. Hannah's jaw dropped at the ludicrousness of the idea before she quickly snapped her mouth shut. 

"You've got to be kidding me..." 

"If it comes to that."

"We do that, we don't know when he comes back or what he does to her. Letting him go? Makes this place vulnerable. You really wanna wait.. until somebody in that tower has to take care of it? And that's if we're lucky-"

"We are NOT executing anyone. Don't ever suggest it again. That sort of thinking doesn't belong in here."

"That sort of thinking keeps you alive anymore, Deanna. Whether you want to believe it or not." Hannah added angrily, swallowing hard at the fury swirling like rancid bile in her belly. 

"She's right... People die now, Deanna. They do. There's times like this you can decide who and when. Or it can be decided for you."

"It already was. I wouldn't kill you... I'd just send you away." Deanna said, walking away from the both of them. 

"Deanna, you can't just walk away from this. SOMEthing has to be done." Hannah said, catching her attention just before she was out of sight. "Something WILL be done about this."

"Hannah, please don't make me regret the job I gave you." 

"You asked me to create a system of laws. To create a government. You of all people should understand that comes with hard decisions."

"Making light of someone's life shouldn't be decision at all."

"Maybe not in the world before but this one? Times have changed, Deanna and in a way shittier light. You need to understand that."

"Oh, I think I understand that." She said, narrowing her eyes at Hannah before nodding toward her son's grave. 

"I don't think you do." 

Deanna watched her carefully for another moment and disappeared, leaving Rick and Hannah by themselves unsure of where they stood with her with the exception that execution was out of the question. 

"So much for playing the sympathy card." Hannah sighed, frustrated that they hadn't gotten through to her like either of them had hoped. 

"Give it time." Rick said simply, holding his hands on either of his hips. "It'll only take some time for her to see it." 

The two of them left the clearing and turned back toward the house, Hannah thankful that her injured ankle was in much better shape than it had been the week before. She stepped carefully to keep it that way and walked up the steps back toward the house, leaving Rick at the sidewalk as he turned toward Jessie and Pete's house. 

"What are you gonna do now?" Hannah asked, catching his attention before he could leave. 

"I'm gonna walk the perimeter. Think about a few things."

"I mean about Pete." 

"I'll talk to Jessie first. See where her head is. Explain what's gonna happen and get him out of there."

"And if she doesn't go for it?"

"Then I'll move to Plan B."

"And what does that entail?"

"I wait. Wait 'til he makes a move and that'll be that."

Hannah nodded in understanding and chewed at her bottom lip, a twinge of worry growing more pronounced with each second. 

"You mean you kill him the second your instinct kicks in." She said quietly, wondering if the part of her who second-guessed everything would ever leave her alone. 

"That's exactly what I mean." He said, turning to leave again. 

"Rick." Hannah said, stopping him again. He turned to meet her eyes again before she continued. "Just... be careful." 

He gave her a small nod and smiled before he walked away, the familiar sound of his boots against the concrete fading the further he went. Hannah watched him carefully, the same twinge of worry pulling at her stomach and giving her the sense that the argument with Deanna wouldn't be the most exciting event of the day.

***

The hours of the morning crept by and slowly turned into the afternoon as Hannah again lost herself in the boredom of the books Deanna had left with her before she'd finally had enough. She pulled herself from the soft cushions of the couch and stepped into her boots before she stretched out her limbs and walked out the door. Rick and the others had scattered themselves in various directions, some of them remaining within the protection of Alexandria's walls and some of them venturing into the wilderness that waited outside. Hannah walked quietly along the streets, thankful to have some quiet for once that wasn't interrupted by the theories of government or public policy that she'd been bombarded with studying for the past two days. 

Just ahead, the same bench Hannah had sat on in the first days in Alexandria sat by the pond and Hannah walked toward it and made herself comfortable. She watched as random passersby went about their daily routines, carrying miscellaneous things to and from where ever they needed to go just as they always had. Her thoughts wandered aimlessly for a while until they came to the same thing she had tried to ignore for as long as possible, a part of her heart breaking with the need to feel Daryl close, to know that he was safe with her.   
He'd been gone for all of a day and a half and as much as she knew he could take care of himself and Aaron, Hannah couldn't control the intense and overwhelming unease at knowing just how dangerous the world outside the walls could be. Tears burned at the backs of her eyes at just the idea of him being hurt, an even heavier sense of dread forcing them down her cheeks with the thought that he may not return if something had gone wrong.

She brought her arms around her knees and hugged them into her chest, burying his face as she tried and completely failed to control the sadness that swept through her at the idea of losing the only man she'd ever truly loved. The snap of a twig to Hannah's right caught her attention and she snapped her head to look at who had joined her, surprised to see Deanna standing quietly next to the bench. 

"You understand why I can't let Rick do something like that, don't you?"

"I understand it." Hannah said before she sniffed hard, trying to reign herself in and stop the steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. "Doesn't mean I have to agree with it." 

"We can't do something like th-"

"The hell we can't, Deanna." She paused, looking up at a woman who had no clue at how the world operated anymore. "The rules of the world are different now. And it's painfully frustrating that you don't get that." 

"I can understand a lot more than you think." 

"Yeah, well, it sure as hell doesn't seem like you do. If you had ANY idea what life is like now you wouldn't have such a problem with controlling the situation like Rick suggested." 

"Having a community like this, there has to be order-"

"You don't think we know that?" Hannah interrupted, struggling to control the harshness of her voice. "If you want order in a community like this, there have to consequences paid for behavior that's unacceptable. Without it, the result is chaos. Letting a piece of garbage like Pete get away with something like that only perpetuates the problem."

"And if you take his family away from him, what if he refuses to treat-"

"Then we find another solution. It's not rocket science, Deanna. But abuse like that cannot be written off because he happens to be valuable."

"So you think the punishment should be to just kill him?"

"Is that what either of us suggested? No. But you have to separate him from the people he's hurting. And if he refuses to do what's expected of him, then so be it. We take care of the problem and move on." 

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Deanna asked, her arms crossed just below her chest while she still stood to Hannah's right. Hannah didn't say anything in return but instead just waited, squinting up into the sunlight until Deanna continued. "Why are you pushing so hard for this?"

Hannah thought for a moment and knew the answer to her question nearly instantly, wishing it hadn't have been so easy. 

"Because I know what it's like to watch a man turn into a monster." She finally said, fighting even more tears at the horrid memories of her time with Jason. 

Deanna didn't respond, instead taking her place next to Hannah on the bench and looking forward. She thought for a moment before she looked at the ground between her feet and Hannah carefully chose her words, wanting to be as vague as she could at sharing the experiences she had had with Jason. 

"It started off with him looking for fights... he picked on people. Especially ones he knew were smaller or defenseless against him."

"Who? Certainly not-"

"Daryl? God no. Polar opposites. No... his name was Jason. He was part of the first group I was with before Daryl and Rick's."

"What did he do?"

"It started of with the fights. Like he was trying to maintain his sense of authority with our group... but over time, the more we let him get away with, the more dangerous he became. He killed people I cared about. He tricked me into doing the same... until..." Hannah explained, her words trailing off as she struggled to force herself to tell a woman she barely knew about one of the worst events in her life. "Until he terrorized every last part of me... chased me down and sank my face into the dirt like I was some kind of worthless animal... and raped me. Nearly killed me... with his hands wrapped tight around my throat..." 

Hannah's voice shook the more she thought about what Jason had done. She swallowed hard and buried her face in her hands, wiping away her tears and looking in the opposite direction before she looked back at Deanna who sat completely still, staring at her. 

"I'm sorry."

"Deanna, if you were really sorry, you would have dealt with Pete long ago. Men like Jason... like Pete... get away with things like that because we let them. Because we're afraid of what we'll lose." 

Not a second passed before the sounds of glass shattering cut through the air from down the street, shouts and grunts coming from a street over before even more joined them and grew louder. 

"DEANNA!" A voice called out just before the both of them got to their feet and ran like hell around the corner and down the street. 

Various people had gathered around a commotion in the street and Hannah gasped as she realized what was going on, moving even faster as she ran up to try and stop the flying fists being thrown between Rick and Pete. Blood flew from the mouths of both of them as they struggled the overpower one another, Pete holding his hand around Rick's neck before Jessie attempted to pull him away. He thrust his arm back and struck her cheek hard, knocking her to the ground just before Rick head butted him and got his footing, shoving Pete into the asphalt. 

Rick's fist made hard contact with Pete's cheek in a hard, bone crushing punch and he wrapped his arm around his neck, stealing his ability to pull in any air. 

"RICK, STOP!" Hannah shouted, stepping closer than what could have been safe. "CARL, NO, HE-" She yelled again as Carl ran up to the two of them and grabbed for Rick's shoulders. Ignoring her words, Carl tried to pull his father off of Pete and Rick shoved him back just before Pete's elbow made hard contact with his face. 

"Rick, you've got to stop!" Hannah said again, trying to get through to him through the haze of his adrenaline rush.

"Stop! Stop it! Right now!" Deanna said firmly as she ran up just behind Hannah, catching her breath. Glenn and Nicholas joined the group in the street and everyone grew still, watching as Rick still held his arms tight around Pete's neck. 

"You touch her again, and I kill you." He said roughly to Pete, Deanna's words suddenly interrupting him. 

"DAMN IT RICK, I SAID STOP!"

"Or what?" Rick asked, his face broken and covered in his blood as he got up on his knees and pointed the gun he carried in secret at the group of people surrounding him. "You gonna kick me out?"

"Put that gun down, Rick." Deanna instructed, the half of the group he was facing taking steps backward. 

"Rick, this isn't the way we handle this!" Hannah urged, stepping closer. He looked over at her briefly and ignored her words, shaking his head before he continued. 

"You still don't get it. NONE OF YOU DO." He shouted, still holding his gun. "We know what needs to be done and we do it... We're the ones who live. YOU. You just... sit, and plan and hesitate."

"RICK. I MEAN IT. STOP!"

"NO HANNAH, I WON'T." He said angrily, turning back toward Deanna. "YOU PRETEND LIKE YOU KNOW WHEN YOU DON'T! You wish things weren't, but they are... You wanna live? You want this place to stay standing? You're way of doing things is done."

Hannah bit hard at the fury burning deep in her stomach and looked over at Michonne as she looked back, knowing exactly what needed to be done. While every word that came out of Rick's mouth may have been right to an extent, he couldn't have chose a worse way to be heard. 

"Things don't get better because you... WANT them to. Starting right now, we have to live in the REAL world. We have to control who lives here."

"That's never been more clear to me than right now." Deanna cut in, her expression like stone and her voice firm. 

Hannah and Michonne exchanged another look before Rick continued, raising his eyebrows in stunned surprise at what Deanna was inferring. 

"Me? ME? You.. you mean me? Your way's gonna destroy this place. It's gonna get people killed. It's ALREADY. Gotten people killed. And I'm not gonna stand by, and just let it happen." Rick went on, his words laced with bitter frustration before Hannah nodded toward Michonne and watched her slowly step toward him as he continued to speak "If you don't fight, you die. I'm not gonna stand by an-" 

With a loud grunt and hard hit to his head, Rick's sentence was cut short and Michonne took a step back, a slight wave of relief washing over Hannah as she watched him hit the ground unconscious. 

"What happened here?!" Deanna shouted, looking around at everyone standing around. Jessie stood just next to the two men on the ground with tears streaming down her face and   
Hannah had to wonder who she was crying for - the man who'd tried to save her or the one she called her husband. 

"Deanna, just... give us the afternoon to figure out what's going on." Hannah said, holding her hand out and turning her head in Deanna's direction without actually looking at her. 

"I want answers. And I want them tonight. Get him out of here and cleaned up." Deanna added, her voice firm and full of frustration. 

"And you'll get them. We'll figure this out." Hannah said defensively, irritated at both Rick and Deanna for two conflicting reasons. 

Without any other words exchanged, the group around them dispersed and left Hannah with the other members of her group to deal with Rick's unconscious body. No one said anything for a long moment, all of them too disappointed and frustrated to really know what to say. 

"Does anybody have any idea what the fuck just happened?" Hannah asked out loud, struggling to control the anger in her tone. 

"All I heard was a commotion and the crash before I got here..." Maggie said, looking over at the broken window shards on Jessie and Pete's front porch. 

"Did he say anything to anyone about going after Pete?" 

"I don't think anyone's talked to him since this morning... he's been out checking perimeter since then." Maggie returned, as she and Michonne each took one of his arms and heaved his dead weight up to carry him into the empty house down the street. 

Hannah followed them closely and opened the doors for them until they dropped him onto a single mattress on the floor inside, Rosita coming in behind them with a bottle of peroxide and gauze to clean up his bloodied face. 

"You guys go and do some damage control with Deanna. I'll stay here." Michonne said dutifully, taking a seat in the corner. Hannah and Maggie both nodded toward her in understanding before they looked to one another, each of them just as disappointed and perplexed as the other and just how big of mess all of this may turn out to be.


	18. Chapter 18

"How is he?" Hannah asked after several hours had passed into the late afternoon, walking up to Carol who stood just outside the door to the room where Rick was still passed out. 

"You got here just in time, he's up now. Michonne is in there talking with him."

"We need to get this story about the gun straight for this meeting later... if anything is even the slightest bit sketchy, we lose everything." Hannah added, despising the very idea of having to try and explain anything at all. 

"I saw you talking with Deanna earlier, surely you can talk some sense into her."

"I'm only one person, Carol, I can only do so much... I thought I had her on the right track earlier before the fight, but then Rick pulled all of this and I feel like we might be back at square one... if not worse." 

Carol looked at the door and chewed absently at the inside of her cheek before Glenn and Abraham walked up and caught both of their attention. They each nodded toward the door and Hannah reached for the handle, letting herself in while the others followed to see Rick sitting against the wall with Michonne on a chair just next to him. 

"Where'd you get the gun?" MIchonne started when she looked the four of them standing across from both she and Rick.

"Took it, right?" Carol answered for him. "From the armory? That was stupid... how'd you do it?"  
Rick looked over at her knowingly before he glanced away, slightly shrugging off the question with one hand before he spoke. 

"Just in case." 

"Deanna's planning to have a meeting tonight. For anyone who what's to." Glenn said to no one in particular. 

"To kick Rick out?" Abraham asked, standing to Hannah's right. 

"To try." Carol answered. 

"We don't know that." Glenn added, looking at the floor with his hands in his pockets. 

"I fairly certain that's the direction it would go." Hannah chimed in, bringing her arms to hold one another just below her chest. 

"Maggie's with Deanna right now. She's gonna find out what it is." Glenn continued, trying to maintain a more hopeful outlook. 

"At the meeting, you say you were worried about someone being abused and no one was doing anything about it. You say you took a gun just to be sure that Jessie was safe from a man who wound up attacking you. You say you'll do whatever you want them to... just tell them a story that they want to hear." Carol went on, her eyes wide and never leaving Rick. "It's what I've been doing since I got here." 

"Why?" Michonne asked, Hannah already feeling like she already knew the answer. 

"Because these people are children and children like stories." 

"What happens after all the nice words and they still try to kick 'em out?" Abraham asked.

"They're guarding the armory now." Glenn added. 

"We still have knives." Carol said, looking back at Rick and over at Hannah. "That's all we need against them."

"One of us with a knife is probably far more dangerous than any of them with a gun they've likely never used." Hannah said more to herself than to anyone else, glancing down at Rick. 

"Tonight, at the meeting... if it looks like it's goin' bad, I whistle. Carol grabs Deanna. I take Spencer. You grab Reg. Glenn and Abraham cover us, watch the crowd. Hannah, you and Maggie'll take control of the situation and keep ever-"

"We can talk to them." Michonne interrupted.

"And we will. And if we can't get through, we'll take the three of them and say we'll slit their throats."

"Like at Terminus." Glenn said, looking uneasy. 

"No. We just tell 'em. They give us the armory, and it's over. Maggie and Hannah'll make a good team at leadership. They'll make it easier- for all of them. And for all of us."

"Did you want this?" Glenn asked after a long, heavy pause. 

"No... I hit my limit. I... I screwed up. And here we are." Rick explained, the look on his face slightly disappointed that he'd lost control of himself and gotten them in the situation in the first place. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna sleep some more." 

The others filed out the door and left Rick to lay on the single mattress and Hannah stayed still for a moment, wondering what it might take to assume the leadership over a community she wasn't sure she wanted to lead. She bit at her lip and left the room, curious to hear if Maggie had made any headway with Deanna at all, doubting she had given how hard she'd had to try before Rick and Pete's stunt. 

Turning toward Deanna's and dreading having to speak with her about the fight, Hannah looked across the street to see Maggie making her way toward the house she and Glenn had taken. 

"Maggie! Wait!" Hannah shouted, catching her attention and carefully starting to jog toward her. 

"It's alright, I'll come to you." 

"No, no. I was headed this direction anyway to see Deanna. Glad I caught you instead. Any word on where her head’s at?”

"She's thinkin' about sendin' him out. Reg is... tryin' to get her to see it differently, but... I don't know. I don't know if anything'll get her to change her mind."

"Shit." Hannah said under her breath as they both turned back toward her house. "That was the opposite of what I'd wanted to hear." 

"Wish it were different."

"Me too." She said quietly, crossing her arms just under her chest. "Rick has a plan in case things go south... So if that should happen, he wants us ready to step up and lead. As a team."

"I think that could work... but I want to try and solve this without having to resort to that. Think I'm going to talk to as many people as I can. Make sure they have the whole story. If you want to join me, you certainly can."

"Honestly, I'm not that great with people... I already argued with Deanna twice yesterday, so I wouldn't say I have the best track record."

Maggie laughed quietly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before shoving her hands back in her pockets. 

"I appreciate the honestly. Wouldn't want to ruffle any more feathers than we already have."

Hannah said nothing and gave Maggie an easy, understanding smile, stopping just in front of the porch steps. 

"I heard Daryl and Aaron went out on a run. Maybe recruiting if they find anyone."

"Yeah. A couple days ago.." 

"Days? How long are they supposed to be gone?"

"He didn't know..." Hannah answered, her voice low and full of heartache, wishing she could feel him close to ease it. 

"You doin' okay?" Maggie asked, picking up on how much it hurt Hannah to be away from him for so long. 

"Trying to keep myself distracted as much as I can. When I can it's not so bad... I just miss him."

"I guess all the commotion around here hasn't been so bad in that regard."

"Not the kind of distraction I was expecting, but... we'll deal with it."

Maggie gave her a smile in understanding before the both of them said their goodbyes and Maggie turned back toward hers and Glenn's house, disappearing between two other houses just a moment later. 

Hannah let herself inside and rummaged around the kitchen for something to eat before she took her place back on the couch and picked up another one of Deanna's books. She sat and read for a while, losing track of time until she looked up and out the window, noticing Rick running down the street and up toward the side of the house in the dark. She shot up and off of the couch and grabbed her knife before running out the door and following the faded sounds of his footsteps. 

Gargled moans and raspy growls came from around a far corner between two other houses and Hannah ran as fast as she could, following the heavy thud of bodies hitting the ground along with Rick's groans of struggle. Hannah rounded the corner and nearly gasped out loud, gripping her knife as tight as she could and plunging the blade into the skull of a walker headed straight for Rick who was already fighting one directly on top of him. She tossed the corpse to the side and went to do the same to the other trying to make a meal out of him before he grunted for her to stop, the sudden pop of a gun shot piercing the air and blood spraying down onto his face out of the head of the walker he'd been fighting. 

"What the- hell happened?" Hannah asked, catching her breath and offering her hand to help him up. 

"Thank you." He said, trying to find breath of his own as she wiped the rotted brain matter off of his shoulder. "Did you see anyone come in or go outta the gates?"

"What? No... I didn't hear anything or see anything..."

"Gate was unguarded and open. Not a lot, but enough. Enough for these to get in here." He added angrily, reaching for the arm of one of the dead bodies laying in a heap on the ground and picking it up before turning to leave. 

"Rick, what are you-"

"Goin' to teach these people a lesson." 

"Rick, do you honestly think that's the best way to do that?" 

"Hannah, it's the only way." He said dutifully. "They need to see what this world is... and if they don't see it now, they never will."

Hannah stood and watched him pick it up and heave it over his shoulder before he turned toward Deanna's house. She followed closely until the soft, warm glow of a fire was visible from over the walls of Deanna's courthouse and she slowed down, waiting for Rick to walk in before slipping inside the doorway just as he dumped the body on the ground. 

Members of their group and Alexandria sat gathered around the fire in the middle of the courtyard, all of them at a loss for words at the horrifying sight of a dead body laying on the ground. 

"There wasn't a guard on that gate. It was open." Rick started, still out of breath.

"I asked Gabriel to close it." Deanna's son Spencer said, looking at his mother. 

"Go!" Deanna demanded just as he ran behind her and out of the courtyard when she turned back toward Rick. 

"I didn't bring it in." Rick continued, his face still covered in deep red blood. "It got inside on it's own. They always will. The dead AND the living. Because we're in here. And the ones out there... they'll hunt us... they'll find us. They'll try to use us... and try to kill us. We'll kill them. We'll survive. I'll show you how... You know, I was thinkin'... I was thinkin', how many of you do I have to kill to save your life?" He asked, looking around at everyone, his tone growing heavier with meaning and losing the stern frustration he'd had with them the previous day. "But I'm not going to do that. YOU'RE gonna change. I'm not sorry for what I said last night... I'm sorry for not saying it sooner. You're not ready. But you have to be - RIGHT now - you have to be. Luck runs out."

Hannah nodded slowly in both quiet pride and agreement, thankful he'd used his better judgement to convey how dire it was that Alexandria recognize just how dangerous the world really was and, even more so, just how lucky they had been to have made it this long. 

"You're not one of us." Pete's voice said angrily as he stumbled into the courtyard with Michonne's sword in hand. "YOU'RE NOT ONE OF US!"

"Pete, you need to stop and lea-"

"Get the hell away from me Reg." He continued, struggling to shove Reg off of him as he stepped closer to the group. Rick reached for his gun and Pete kept on shoving Reg back, urging him to get away from him, bringing the sword up in reflex as he tried to push him away. 

With one last angry shout, Pete's arm moved and the blade sliced through Reg's throat and members of the group screamed and shouted, none of them able to handle the sight of Deanna crying as she lowered Reg to the ground, blood spurting and oozing quickly out of his severed throat. Abraham tackled Pete to the ground and put his knee to his back, holding his arms back to immobilize him while he continued to shout over Deanna's heartbreaking cries. 

"IT'S HIM!" Pete yelled angrily into the ground. "THIS IS HIM!"

Hannah watched the group carefully as they all absorbed what was happening so quickly in front of their eyes before a heavy, deafening silence fell among all of them. Deanna held her hand on top of Reg's, covered with blood as she looked up at Rick. 

"Rick... do it." She said simply, a split second passing before another gunshot pierced the air, it's bullet flying through Pete's brain. 

Another eery silence fell among the group before Hannah looked back over at the doorway into the courtyard, her eyes widening at the three men standing just outside it. 

"Rick?" A man she didn't recognize said, holding a walking stick nearly as tall as he was as he stood between Aaron and the man she loved more than anything. 

"Oh my god." Hannah breathed, tears immediately spilling over her eye lids and slipping silently down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. 

Daryl nodded toward her and held his hand slightly up to stop her from stepping toward him, the look on his face saying all of the things she needed to hear while the situation around them remained quiet and heavy. 

"Everyone." Hannah said purposefully, forcing her attention back to the immediate situation, looking out at everyone and stepping toward the fire. "Everyone needs to go home. Lock your doors. Hold your loved ones tight and try to get some sleep. We'll call another meeting in a few days and we'll talk about moving forward then." She continued, watching as members of the group slowly filed out of the other courtyard entrance, most of them still stunned speechless at what had just happened. Hannah turned back toward where Deanna still sat on the ground with her husband lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood, holding him as tight as she could while she cried. Her heart broke for her before she looked up at Daryl, even more tears burning behind her eyes again as a wave of relief swept through her to see him alive and standing. 

Abraham stood and picked up Pete's body and heaved it over his shoulder before he disappeared into the dark, turning toward the cemetery. Hannah ignored everything else and looked directly at Daryl, stepping behind Rick and over toward him to wrap her arms around his neck as tightly as she could without strangling him, combing her fingers through his greasy hair and kissing along his cheek. 

"I'm so glad you're okay." She whispered, breaking away from him enough to look down at him for a split second. "You're okay, right? One piece? You're okay?"

"I'm good." Daryl returned simply, bringing his hand to her waist and pulling her back into this embrace. He dropped his crossbow to the ground and held her tight, burying his face in the curve of her neck and breathing in her scent. 

"Did you guys have any trouble getting back? Did anything happen?" Hannah asked, holding her hands warmly on his sides between his body and vest. 

"Nothin' comin' back, but we ran into some shit while we were out there."

"What happened?" She continued, her expression worried regardless of seeing that he'd made it back in one piece. Daryl brought his lips to hers for quick, warm kiss and patted the outside of her thigh, turning her toward the man that had come in with them nodding in his direction. 

"Guy found us and got us out of a bind." He said, bringing his hand to hold at the small of Hannah's back. 

"Morgan." The man said, offering his free hand and giving her an easy smile. He was nearly Daryl's height with dark skin and hardly any hair to speak of, his hand warm as she shook it and gave him a smile in return. 

"Hannah. Do you and Rick already know-?"

"I met Rick way back before he ever had a group."

"I missed the beginning of the turn and woke up a coma in an abandoned hospital. Found Morgan just after that. He told me what'd happened. Got me on my feet." Rick said as he came back up to their small group. "I wouldn't have found my family if he hadn't have helped me out."

Hannah nodded and gave Morgan a small smile of appreciation before she turned her attention back to the man who still held her close. She reached up and moved some of the hair out of his face and hugged him again, the strings of her heart pulled hard at just the thought of feeling him sleep next to her again. 

"Hungry?" She asked, slipping her arm behind her back to lace her fingers with his without looking way from him. Daryl nodded and Hannah looked over toward Aaron, Rick and Morgan, holding her hand on Rick's arm for a second and tilting her head toward home. "Come on. Let's some food in your stomachs." She continued quietly just as Daryl turned and pulled her easily behind him. 

The three others followed close behind them, leaving Deanna in the courtyard with her grief and a pool of drying blood, none of them too concerned after everything they'd lost themselves. The group quickly made their way back to the house and Hannah busied herself with boiling some water and heating up a jar of tomato sauce, serving heaping portions to Aaron, Daryl and Morgan before anyone finally spoke up. 

"You were right." Morgan said with a knowing smile, breaking the silence and watching Rick slowly pace with the map Morgan had brought with him. "Wasn't over."

Hannah's eyebrows came together in slight confusion and she looked down at Daryl, moving her hand smoothly across his shoulders while he ate. He shook his head and looked back at his food before Hannah looked back up just as Rick finally spoke. 

"We should talk more tomorrow." He said, setting the old tattered map on the table in front of him. "Listen... I don't take chances any more."

"And you shouldn't." Morgan added simply, never looking away from Rick. 

A moment later Morgan set his bowl down in the sink and Rick escorted him out of the house with Aaron following them, leaving Daryl and Hannah on their own in the calm, easy silence. He set his own bowl on the counter just next to him and wrapped his arms around Hannah's stomach, hugging her tight and breathing in her closeness. 

"You okay?" She whispered, holding one hand gently on his cheek with the other still resting on his shoulder. 

"Almost didn't make it back here." Daryl said softly, his words muffled by her shirt. 

"What?" 

"There was a trap out there. Bunch a' semi trailers backed up and closed to look like they were full a' food. Soon as Aaron opened one of 'em, they all came open and we got trapped in a car."

Hannah took a small step back and looked down at him carefully, a wave of panic sweeping over her as she looked for any kind of bite or injury he might have sustained without telling her. 

"Oh my god, are you sure you're not hurt?"

"Yeah, I'm good..."

She paused to watch him for a moment, slowly moving her fingers through his hair and waiting for him to continue, seeing in his eyes he was holding something back, keeping it just below the surface. 

"Why do I get the feeling you're leaving something out?"

"'Cause I almost sacrificed myself to get Aaron outta there... Somethin' about bein' in this place still don't feel like me... even with you here, it don't feel like I fit."

"Daryl." Hannah said, lifting his chin to look up at her. "We can make this work. I promise." 

He looked up at her and didn't respond, watching her carefully and falling victim to his own self-doubt. 

"Please don't do this to yourself." Hannah whispered, pulling herself into his lap. "I can't do this without you... You keep me grounded and focused. And most of all... you make me feel like a person. Like I'm alive and I matter."

"You matter."

"But with you, I really feel like it." She said, pressing her forehead lightly to his with her arm wrapped around his shoulder. 

"You were the first thing I thought about when I told him I was gonna draw 'em away from the car... I didn't wanna do it... 'cause it woulda meant I couldn't see you again... but it seemed like the only way out. Till he told me he wouldn't let me do it... told me we'd get out together or die tryin'."

"I'm glad he stopped you. I couldn't have lost anyone else." Hannah said softly, moving her thumb gently along his cheek before bringing his lips to hers and kissing him deeply. "And I especially can't lose you." 

"Love you." Daryl whispered into their kiss, moving to stand up and lift her into his arms. 

Within just a few moments, Daryl had carried Hannah up the stairs and laid her on her back, pulling at every article of clothing she had on and leaving them abandoned on the floor along with his own. Hannah moved her hands along his lean arms and bit at her bottom lip, hardly able to contain her need for him at just the sight of his naked body on top of hers. Daryl leaned in to kiss along her neck and down between her breasts, taking her nipple between two of his fingers and teasing her just the way she liked. 

Daryl wrapped his lips around her other nipple and took his time moving his tongue in luscious circles around it, sucking and teasing while he slid his hand along her stomach and between her legs. His fingers immediately found her already soaking entrance and he pushed them just inside of her before moving up to press into her clit, stealing her breath away just as his mouth left her nipple. Hannah brought her hands to mess through his hair and Daryl pushed her further onto the bed, kissing down her stomach until he hovered just above her her aching core. 

"Oh my god-" Hannah breathed when Daryl took her clit between her lips, his tongue moving furiously and driving her wild. 

Daryl moved his hands along the insides of her thighs and brought one of her legs over his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her leg with his hand holding along her side while the other buried his fingers inside of her entrance. Hannah hissed at the feel of him moving inside of her, his fingers teasing the deep, carnal need she always felt at the just the thought of him. She grabbed his other hand and laced her fingers with his, moaning into her shoulder and squeezing his hand the more his tongue moved in circles around her clit. 

"Fuck Dar-" Hannah struggled to say, waves of goosebumps sweeping over her as he quickly pushed his fingers and in and out of her. "Holy shit, babe, please-" 

"You want me now?"

"God, yes. Please." She begged, biting her lip when he picked himself up and kissed up her stomach and chest. His lips pressed into hers yet again and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, letting her taste herself as she moaned into his kiss. Hannah spread her legs for him and Daryl centered his body on top of hers, bringing her hands to hold onto either side of him. 

With hardly another second passing, Daryl thrust deep inside of her, filling her completely just the way he always did. He held himself above her with his arms on either side of her body, kissing up her neck and along her jaw before bringing his lips to hers. Daryl slowly moved his hips into hers, every inch of him buried deep inside of her while he breathed heavily into her skin. 

"Oh my go-" Hannah breathed, bringing one of her arms around his shoulder and her other hand sliding down his back to hold his ass, giving him a tight squeeze. She tightened her walls around him, listening to the gritty and delicious grunts coming from deep in his throat. 

"Shit, Hann- god that's fuckin' goo-" Daryl said, struggling to get the words out of his mouth. 

"You like when I do that, huh?"

"Fuckin' a, I do." 

Daryl moved even faster inside of her and he picked himself up, bringing his hands to hold behind her knees and pushing them toward her chest. Hannah looked up at him and bit her lip, the air in her lungs coming out in short, little gasps the harder he pumped inside of her. She reached one hand between her legs and pressed her fingers into her clit, her slick fluid coating every inch of him before he tore her hand away and replaced it with his own. 

Hannah moved her other hand to hold along the side of his neck and Daryl thrust hard into her and stopped, buried deep inside every inch she could give him. He stayed still for a moment to catch his breath, his lips moving along Hannah's collar bone before he slowly pulled out of her. 

"You want me on top?" Hannah whispered, leaning up on both of her elbows to kiss him. 

"Fuck yeah, I do." He said with a harsh whisper, giving the outside of her thigh a playful smack. "Not 'fore I taste you, though." He added, his hands sliding down her legs and leaning down to run his tongue along her soaking, tingling folds. 

A weak whimper escaped from Hannah's throat and she writhed beneath him, waves of bliss sweeping through her until Daryl pulled away to lay down on his back. Hannah got up on her knees and brought herself between his legs, moving her hands slowly up his thighs until she took all of him in her hand and wrapped her lips around his thick tip. 

Hannah took her time as she moved along all of him, tasting every drop she could of her slick fluid still coating him before she kissed up along his stomach and chest. Daryl brought his hands to hold along her thighs as she lowered herself onto his lap, biting his lip at the sight of her burying him deep inside of her hot, begging core. 

"God, baby- so fucking big." Hannah breathed with her knees in the air as she took his hands in hers. She slowly started to move on top of him, the gentle slap of their skin ringing through the dark room along with their heavy breathing and wanting words. 

"Holy shit, Han-" Daryl struggled to say, the muscles of his stomach flexing beneath her before she moved her knees down to either side of him. 

"Fuck me, Daryl." Hannah begged, leaning forward and kissing hard. 

Daryl immediately brought his knees up behind her and held tight onto her hips, pumping his hips hard beneath her and stealing her ability to control the volume of the moans coming from deep in her throat. 

"Shit, girl, that's it-" Daryl said from between his teeth, picking up his pace and reaching up to tease her nipple between his fingers. 

"Oh m- Daryl I- fuck I'm gonna come!" Hannah whimpered, reaching between them to press into her clit. "Oh my god, I'm gonna come!"

Daryl pumped even harder and she collapsed on top of him, heat sweeping over her skin along with waves of goosebumps. Daryl grunted into her neck before she kissed him, holding his cheek in her hand while he continued to fuck hard beneath her. 

"Jesus fu-"

"Baby, no, pull out!" Hannah moaned, leaning up from him and moving to get up off of him. 

"Fuck, get up th- fuck!"

With a long, gritty moan, Daryl came hard just as he was still deep inside of her before Hannah could pull herself off of him. He held his hands on her hips and moved them smoothly along her ribs and leaned up to kiss her, bringing her body back to lay down beneath him before he moved down to run his tongue along her soaking, tingling folds. He teased and sucked at her clit, throwing her senses into overdrive once again as she moaned hard into her shoulder and struggled to catch her breath. Hannah grabbed for a handful of his dark shaggy hair and quivered beneath him, breathing his name the more the teased her and pushed his fingers inside her. 

"Get up here." Hannah said smoothly, putting her hands on both of his shoulders and biting her lip when he slowly made his way up to kiss her. 

Daryl brought one of his hands to hold along the side of Hannah's face, their lips moving in delicious waves together and sharing the taste of their orgasms on his tongue. Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer to her, loving every second of their time together and wanting it to never end. 

"I love you." She whispered as she broke away from his kiss, keeping her forehead pressed gently to his. "I love you more than anything."

Daryl never looked away from her and kept hold of her cheek, moving his thumb along her skin. It was moments like this that Hannah wished they could live in forever. The ones when she lost herself in everything they were together, and when she could feel him do the same. She could never put words to what it was like to feel him with her, or how complete she felt when he looked at her the way he did but she knew that this would always make the struggles of the life they had to live worth it. To always be able to come back to moments like this when they could forget about the world around them and focus on how much they loved one another. 

"I love you." Daryl said quietly, his voice gritty and low in her ear as he lowered himself to lay down next to her. He pulled her body into his and held her close, his arm wrapped around her waist and their bodies fitting together like a completed puzzle. 

Like he always did, Daryl fell asleep quickly behind her, his arm heavily draped over her and his breath warm along the back of Hannah's neck. She laid there quietly with him, relaxed and savoring the kind of bliss that, for the longest time, seemed impossible to find in an overturned world.


	19. Chapter 19

Sunlight poured in through the window and Hannah woke up easily on her side, her limbs tangled in the rumpled sheets. Daryl laid just in front of her on his stomach with his arms folded underneath his pillow and facing away from her. His messy hair stuck up in places from sleep and Hannah reached over to comb her fingers through it, a gentle smile pulling at her lips while she watched him sleep. 

Daryl stirred a few moments later and lazily turned to face her, his eyes opening slowly as he blinked to adjust to the bright light of the morning. 

"Hi." Hannah said quietly, moving his hair out of his face and holding her hand at the curve of his neck. Daryl didn't say anything in return, instead giving a low playful groan and reaching for her waist to pull her into his body. 

"Mm, you sleep good?" She asked with a few breathy giggles. 

"Got to sleep in my own bed with my girl. How do you think?"

"You also got some ass. I'd certainly hope you slept well." Hannah laughed, holding her hand on his bare chest. 

"Bet your ass I did." Daryl said playfully, leaning in and kissing along her cheek. 

Hannah moved her hands smoothly along his chest and down his stomach, reaching for the hungry erection she wanted more than anything in that moment. She slowly started to stroke him, their lips moving in delicious waves together as he blindly grabbed her hips and pulled her on top of him. Daryl's voice left him in hungry groans, deep and gritty in his throat just as she slowly lowered herself on top of him, her walls tight around every inch of him. 

"God damn..." Daryl said in a low moan, holding his hands in the curves of her hips when she started to roll her hips on top of his. 

Hannah bit her lip as she watched him lose himself inside of her, holding her hands on his lean forearms before she leaned forward, bouncing herself in his lap. She slowly brought one of his hands up to hold her breast and the other up to her put his finger in her mouth, sucking on his finger before he moved it down between her legs. 

"Shit, you're fuckin' wet, huh?"

"Mhm." Hannah breathed, leaning even closer to kiss along his jaw and just behind his ear. "I really, really missed you." 

Daryl kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her, moving his hips beneath her and hitting the tender nerve patch buried deep inside of her. Hannah's voice left her in weak, breathy moans in his ear and heat rushed across her skin, goosebumps quickly following just as a quiet knock came to the door. 

"Ah, what the hell..." Daryl breathed just as Hannah sat up on top of him and looked over her shoulder at the door when it started to open. She quickly pulled one of the sheets up to cover herself and Rick leaned into the room, holding his hand up like he were making a point before he even spoke. 

"I know- I'm sorry-"

"Seriously?" Hannah complained, her chest flushed bright red as she turned to look back at him. 

"I'm sorry." He added, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. 

Daryl sat up and brought his arm down in his lap behind Hannah, rubbing at the sleep in his eye with the other while they both waited for Rick to continue. 

"What is it?" Hannah finally asked, getting impatient. 

"I wanted to make sure you were still up for helping run this place. When the time comes."

"You came in here for that?" Hannah griped, turning back toward Daryl and wrapping her arms around Daryl's shoulders. 

"I was up here and heard you were up, and I need to do the perimeter here in a minute, this was really the only time I could ask."

"I talked to Maggie yesterday. We're both in." 

"Good... that's good." 

"But." Hannah added, straining to turn and look at him, holding her finger up to emphasize her point. "We need to wait it out with Deanna. We're going to work WITH her, not just assume leadership because she lost most of her family." 

"I can work with that. We just need to be ready... if anything happens, we need a plan. We need to know who does what." 

"Well, you won't have to worry about Maggie and I."

"Good." 

A calm silence fell among the three of them and Hannah moved her hips in agonizingly slow circles in Daryl's lap, bringing her arms around him again and kissing along his neck. Daryl held his arms around her and Hannah turned around to look back at Rick as she briefly pulled away from Daryl. 

"You can leave now." She said sarcastically before looking back at Daryl and giving him a playful wink. "Unless you want to watch." 

"As exciting as that sounds, I'll have to politely decline." 

Daryl and Hannah both breathed playful giggles into one another and Rick disappeared a second later, closing the door softly behind himself. 

"Mmm, where were we?" Hannah said smoothly, moving faster in Daryl's lap. 

Daryl kissed her hard and tightened his arms around her and stopped her movement, lifting her off of his lap and turning her onto her knees in front of him. He moved his hands smoothly along her spine and quickly pushed back inside of her, holding his hands on her hips and starting to thrust hard behind her. Hannah leaned down into the sheets to arch her back, reaching back to hold her hand on top of his and moaning into the soft sheets beneath her the deeper he thrusted into her. 

"Oh my go-" She breathed, moving her other hand underneath her and pressing her fingers into her clit. In a swift wave of bliss, warm, slick fluid coated their thighs as Hannah lost herself, her breath leaving her in weak gasps as Daryl fucked even harder behind her. 

"Holy sh- god, Hannah-" Daryl grunted behind her, leaning down to reach for one of her breasts and teasing her nipple between his fingers. Hannah struggled to lift herself up and kiss him, every muscle in her body weak and trembling at the feel of him moving inside of her. 

"Turn around." He said suddenly, his voice low and gritty when he quickly pulled out of her. 

Hannah bit her lip and did exactly as he asked before his lips nearly attacked hers, pressing hard into a hungry kiss. Daryl brought one of his hands to the back of her knee and opened her legs, pressing his thick tip to her entrance and wasting no time before he filled her completely. 

Daryl started to move slowly on top of her, his lips never leaving Hannah's as he kissed her deeply. Low, gritty moans escaped from his throat along with her breathy and weak ones, both of them holding one another as their skin started to glisten with sweat. Hannah's chest flushed bright red and her volume grew louder, her hands reaching for any part of him she could grab as her slick fluid leaked from inside of her. With each powerful thrust, her volume grew louder and she came even harder until she couldn't make any other noise, the air in her lungs caught with addictive and overwhelming ecstasy. 

"Fuck, Hannah-" Daryl breathed into her skin, his hips moving harder and faster. "Holy shit, I need your fuckin' mouth." He added, quickly pulling away from her and biting his lip hard when Hannah got up and on her knees and pushed him to lie on his back. 

She wasted no time in wrapping her lips around him and moaned into his sweet taste, moving her hands along his thighs and up to his stomach. Hannah watched him closely while he grabbed for the back of her head, his muscles hard and twitching beneath her fingertips the more she sucked and worked along him. Daryl threw his head back and groaned loudly, his hand still holding weakly at the back of Hannah's head as he started to pump his hips into her mouth. Hannah gagged hard and brought one of her hands down between his legs, playing with his balls until he couldn't hold on any longer. 

"Shit, Han- fuck! I'm co-" Daryl choked, burying himself deep in Hannah's throat and spilling every drop of his orgasm inside of her mouth. She pulled away and swallowed hard for him before she kissed along his hip, his hands reaching for hers and bringing her up into his arms. Daryl immediately kissed her when she nestled into his shoulder, her arm resting lazily on his chest as they both tried to catch their breath. 

"Mm. Good morning to you, too." Hannah said smoothly, smiling into his skin. 

Daryl smiled easily and kissed her temple, moving his hand along the outside of her arm for a while before he gave her side a gentle pat and sat up. He got to his feet and stretched out his limbs, his joints cracking and popping while Hannah picked herself up just behind him and gave his bare ass a playful pinch. 

"So what's your plan now?" Hannah asked, watching him step into his old tattered pants. 

"Find people. Supplies. Whatever we can. Anything."

"I wish I could just go with you instead... I'm tired of being cooped up here." She returned wistfully, following him into the closet as she pulled a bra on. 

"You ain't goin' nowhere." Daryl said, his voice firm and matter-of-fact. 

"So you've said." She said, her words dripping in irritation. 

"You got more brains to offer than me. It ain't smart to risk losin' anyone else."

"That is dead wrong and you know it."

"The hell it ain't. Look at what you did before everything turned to hell." Daryl pointed out as he slipped a black sleeveless shirt on and watched her do the same. "All that school 'an workin' in a hospital and stuff's more important than hangin' around doin' nothin' with a drug dealin' brother."

"I'm not having this argument again, Daryl." Hannah said after pulling on her jeans and buckling her belt. "You're irreplaceable to all of us. Period."

Daryl shrugged into his vest before putting on his boots and grabbed his crossbow, Hannah following him downstairs and finally feeling like she could walk normally enough to not have to use crutches. Rick stood in the kitchen with Judith in his arms and Daryl leaned in to kiss Hannah's cheek, giving her a gentle pinch at the back of her thigh before he slipped out the door. Hannah walked up to Rick and offered her arms to take Judith, giving the baby a playful smile and holding her to stand up on the counter. 

Judith bounced blissfully as she giggled loudly and Hannah's thoughts got away from her, the idea of having a family firmly planting itself at the front of her mind and giving her a dangerous urge to make it actually happen. She thought back to the years of her childhood and what it was like to feel powerless when she couldn't protect her younger sister and fought back a wave a tears, recognizing that her want to do this now only stemmed from her need to atone for what she couldn't do so many years before. 

"You alright?" Rick asked her just as Carol walked through the door. 

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." Hannah lied, wondering how obvious it was. "Just a lot on my mind. With what happened last night and everything. Lots to think about." She added, smiling back at Judith when Carol walked up and scooped her into her arms.

"I just want you guys to be ready in case anything happens." 

"I know... but I'm not just thinking about Reg or Pete... it's this whole 'government' thing. She wants all of these things to happen... and while it's commendable, it's also A LOT to do. There are more important things to be focusing on than writing a bunch of rules down and calling them laws."

"Well.. if anything should happen, then we'll do what we need to."

"I honestly don't think her idea is the best call. I know it's important to be diplomatic, especially when we run into other groups out there. But it's daunting to think about 'creating a government'."

Rick nodded silently and stepped toward the door, resting his hand warmly on her shoulder before he left without another word. Hannah moved over to stand at the window, watching as Daryl tinkered with his bike while he and Rick spoke. Even now, just watching Daryl do the most meaningless task, Hannah couldn't stop her thoughts from returning to the idea of a family. She'd never wanted anything more with him than to make him happy. To make sure he was safe and happy and to protect what they had with every last ounce of what she could give. But now, after being around Judith and recognizing that all along, she and Daryl had been anything but careful when they'd been together, the possibility of becoming a parent was not only very real, but also incredibly alluring. Having Judith around only made the desire stronger, her precious smiles and adorable little laughs echoing down the hallways melting her heart every time she heard it. 

But it was impossible to ignore just how dangerous the idea was. It was no secret that life was fleeting and threats lurked around every corner, especially for the man she still watched outside the window as he himself watched Rick walk toward where the cemetery was. Hannah crossed her arms just below her chest and turned back toward the stairs, making her way up to busy herself with something mindless to keep herself distracted when she grabbed a laundry basket and carried it downstairs. Daryl let himself back into the house and took his place at the kitchen counter, picking at one of his fingernails and deep in his thoughts. Hannah watched him carefully and bit at the inside of her lip while she loaded the washing machine, not even paying attention to mixing lights or darks like she would have done in her life before the turn. She mixed in some detergent and closed the door and stepped back into the kitchen, walking up to the counter next to Daryl and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked, combing her fingers through his hair when he turned himself to face her and pulled her close between his legs. He buried his face into her chest and Hannah held him, giving him the space she knew he needed after everything he'd had to do beyond the walls. She rest her cheek on top of his head after she kissed him, in awe of how much it meant to her to spend even small moments like this with him. 

"It ain't often Rick and I don't see eye to eye."

"What aren't you seeing eye to eye on?"

"Thinks we outta lock everyone out 'an not recruit any one else. Thinks it'll be better that way. Easier to keep our people safe." 

"What do you think?"

"I don't think that's right... bringing more people in is protectin' our people."

"More eyes, more hands, more guns... but to be fair, more mouths to feed. More people to keep an eye on."

"More hands and more bodies to get some kinda crops or somethin' growin'. More people to fight when we need 'em to fight."

Hannah smiled and pulled away and held her hands on either side of his neck, leaning down to kiss him before he stood up. Daryl brought his hands to hold warmly along both sides of her hips and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed when she kissed him softly. 

"Strength in numbers." Hannah whispered when she broke from his kiss. "Do what you think is right. I'll stand with you."

Daryl pulled her even closer and buried his face in the curve of her neck, the words she'd just spoken the very ones he'd needed to hear. 

"What are you doin' today?" He asked, his breath warm along her skin.

"Nothing important, I hope. I need to go to the pantry." She answered, finding it odd how she could sound so domesticated. "I might try and meet with Deanna at some point. What are you doing?"

"Nothin' today. Aaron wants to get back out and look for supplies soon, though. Maybe the next couple days."

"I hate when I miss you." She added, leaning into him and resting her cheek on his chest. 

"I only been out once."

"Once was enough."

"Well, maybe we give your foot a little more time and you and me can go."

"Sounds like a fair compromise." 

Daryl gave the outside of her thigh a few playful smacks before kissing along the side of her neck and stepped away to look out the window, quietly watching the stillness of Alexandria that Hannah had gotten so used to, not knowing that it wouldn't be so quiet inside the walls for very much longer.


	20. Chapter 20

The hours passed swiftly and quietly as Hannah busied herself with nothing important, putting of meeting with Deanna for as long as she possibly could until Rick burst back into the house, clearly agitated with whatever he'd run into outside. 

"Everything alright?" Daryl asked with his low, gritty voice from where he lounged on the couch with his feet up on the arm of it. 

"Meeting at Deanna's. Everyone needs to be there." 

"What? When? What happened?" Hannah asked, standing up from her place on the floor just in front of him. 

"As soon as you can get there. Went out to bury Pete's body a while ago a few miles from here, just out west. Turns out there's a big quarry out there and it's full of walkers."

"Jesus-"

"There's probably tens of thousands in there... and all the noise just keeps drawing more in."

"And they're stuck in there?" Hannah pressed, stepping toward where Daryl sat up straight and letting her hand hold his shoulder. 

"Whoever knew about 'em set up some trucks to block them in. But the roads down into it are crumbling. Probably from the weather and any day now one of those trucks is gonna fall. And then we're gonna have a problem. A big one."

"You think that's how they've gotten this lucky this long?" Hannah continued, absently combing her hand through Daryl's hair. 

"It certainly explains a lot." Rick said as more of a passing thought. 

"So what do we do?" Daryl chimed in, bringing his arm to wrap around one of Hannah's thighs. 

"We should take care of it sooner rather than later, right?" Hannah quipped before Daryl pulled her to sit on his lap. 

"I think that'd be best. Take care of it now before it gets outta hand and puts this whole place in danger."

"How do you think we outta do that?" Daryl asked, holding his arm around Hannah's back with his hand at her waist. 

"We know they move in herds, so I think that outta be our play."

"Like lure them out?" She asked, unsure if that would be the greatest solution. "You really think that'll work? 

"It's gonna have to."

"Is there any other way to handle this?"

"Nothing that could be done in the short amount of time before one of those trucks falls off another edge and lets 'em out. The sound is already drawing them in. Maybe hundreds in a day even.."

"How do you plan on doing it?" Hannah asked, nodding her head in disappointed understanding.

"We build up some corners on the roads away from here to keep them in a herd. Lead 'em away, nice and slow until we can get our people away safely. We'll have groups around making sure they stay together along the way and pick off any that stray away."

"And who did you have in mind to do this? To lead them away?" Hannah asked cautiously, her instincts telling her the answer was the man holding her right. 

"I'll do it." Daryl said, his voice ruff. 

"His bike can maneuver quicker than a car can. In case he runs into trouble." 

Hannah nodded and hated herself for it, wishing the options could be different. Knowing that even if they were, Daryl would still volunteer his own safety for the group. 

"I refuse to let you do that alone." She finally said as she pulled herself from his lap. "My foot is healed enough now, I'm going to do this with you." 

"Absolutely not." He said, standing up with her. 

"I didn't really say this was an option, did I?" 

"Don't matter. You ain't goin'." 

"Fuck you, Daryl, I didn't ask if I could." 

"You fuckin' kiddin' me, girl?" Daryl scoffed, waving her off in frustration before he stepped closer. 

"No, I'm not kidding. I'm not some fragile little piece of glass that'll shatter the instant something touches it."

"Yeah, and if somethin' happens out there and you break that thing for real, you're really gonna be fucked and I ain't havin' that."

"Well, I didn't ask you. I don't need to ask permission to carry my own weight and help out when it really matters around here." She said defiantly, pulling on her boots and crossing her arms just beneath her chest. Hannah watched Daryl carefully and knew he was agitated when she noticed the muscles of his jaw flex. But there wasn't anything he could do to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. He couldn't stop her from coming with him and he knew that wouldn't change. But most of all, Daryl wouldn't stop her because he knew it was smarter this way. Hannah reached out to him and held his arm gently, pulling him to look over at her before she finally spoke, her voice soft and full of purpose. 

"Babe, I need to protect you, too. You know as well as I do it's dangerous out there alone... and if there are as many walkers out there as Rick said, than there's no way I won't be right there with you."

Daryl watched her and hesitantly nodded his head in agreement, taking her hand in his and stepping toward the door to follow Rick. Handfuls of people from Alexandria walked along the streets toward Deanna's and everyone slowly filed inside, finding their own places to sit or stand where they could. Daryl led Hannah over to the window just inside the doorway from the entry hall and sat down with one leg up and bent, resting his elbow on his knee. Hannah sat down just in front of his leg and crossed hers, waiting patiently as the room quickly filled up with the familiar albeit nameless faces she'd seen around town. 

"Alright everyone, please. Quiet." Deanna said firmly, her previous easy way of carrying herself all but gone and replaced with the bitterness of mourning and frustration. "Rick has something he'd like to discuss with everyone."

Rick nodded and looked around the room, nodding gently to the members of their original group mixed in with the people who'd been too lucky to believe. 

"I want to apologize first for what's happened in recent days. I recognize that it probably left everyone thinking that I am a dangerous man... and you'd be right. But that's what happens when you've gone through what I and other members of the group have been through. And it's still not much of an excuse, but when you see a community like this put itself in danger without it even knowing, it's frustrating. And I want to save it... I want to save it. To save you. To save us."

Hannah listened and nodded easily with him, still in awe that he could have a way with words the way he did, despite having heard her fair share of his little speeches herself. 

"Which is why I brought everyone here." He finally said after a poignant pause. "Morgan and I went out this morning. And while we were out there, we came across an old quarry that's going to quickly become a hazard to this place. To you, to your family, to everyone here. To this community as a whole. And we need to do something about it."

"Was that the one out west a few miles?" A man standing just behind Glenn asked. He wore black rimmed glasses and pony tail of dark braids and Hannah knew his face wasn't familiar, knowing she'd tried to meet everyone in town at least once. 

"Who is that?" Hannah whispered, leaning toward Daryl to keep her words as quiet as possible. Daryl shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, bringing his hand to move slowly up and down Hannah's back before she turned her attention back to the man speaking.

"My team. We saw it earlier on. Back when we were goin' on one of those first scouts, find out what was around here." He continued, holding one of his hands casually in his pocket. "There was a camp. At the bottom. The people there must've blocked the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it, they were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of 'em."

"No one's been back since?" Maggie asked, looking up at him. 

"D.C... everytime we're scavenging they're all in the other direction. And I never really felt like havin' a picnic right next to a camp that ate itself." 

"So all the other walkers've been drawn by the sound. Make more sound and then draw more in." Michonne chimed in. 

"And here we are." Rick said, looking back across the room, his face still covered in steri-strips. "Now, what I'm proposing... I know it sounds risky." He started, carefully choosing his words and holding his hands at his hips. "But walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now, maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends 'em east. All of 'em. Right at us... this isn't about IF it gives. It's WHEN. It's gonna happen... It's why we have to do this soon." 

"This is... I don't have another word for it, this is terrifying. All of it. But it... doesn't sound like there's any other way." Carol said from the doorway in front of the stairs. Hannah watched her carefully, knowing exactly what she was up to and silently applauding her talent in being able to completely fool everyone in Alexandria into thinking she was as innocent as she looked. 

"Maybe there is..." Another man standing just next to Carol said. Hannah looked up at him and tried to remember his name, having only recalling seeing him once before when he'd left with Abraham to go get more construction materials for the wall expansion Maggie had been working on with Deanna. "Couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I could draw up plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew... we can try and make it safe-" 

"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers draw more and more every day. Building up the exits won't change that." Rick interrupted, seeming to want to make that plan work. 

"We don't have the materials to do that AND expand the walls. And Rick's right. " Hannah chimed in, looking over at the man who she now remembered as Carter. "Just the sound on it's own is reason enough to be concerned and cautious." 

"We're gonna do what Rick says." Deanna finally spoke, facing the window to Hannah and Daryl's right. "Plan is laid out."

"I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl leading them away. Hannah's gonna to go with him, in case he runs into trouble." 

"Me, too." Sasha spoke up from her place on the couch next to Maggie. "I'll take a car right next to them. Can't just be them. I'll keep 'em comin' and Daryl and Hannah can get 'em from getting sloppy." 

"I'll go with her... It's a long way to white knuckle it solo." Abraham said, sitting just in front of Hannah and Daryl. Hannah reached up and put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm squeeze, thankful to know she had a family who looked out for each other no matter how dangerous. 

"You sure you're up to this?" Daryl said, his voice hardly a whisper as he took one of her hands in his. Hannah looked over at him and nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze just to emphasize her point. 

"We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest to help manage this thing." Rick started after he gave Hannah a gentle nod of approval. "We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer and Holly. So they're out... so who's in?" He asked to the entire group. 

"Me." Michonne said simply while the others weighed the pros and cons of a dangerous mission. Glenn and Maggie whispered to one another briefly, the love and protection they felt for one another obvious and heartwarming before Glenn spoke up and volunteered himself. 

"I'd like to help as well." Gabriel said standing off to Rick's right, holding up his hand as he offered to help. 

"No.Who else?" Rick said with heavy conviction, looking out at everyone else. "We need more." 

"There's gotta be another play." Carter argued, shaking his head. "We can't just.. control THAT many."

"I've said it before. Walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawin' 'em. It's how we can get 'em all at once." 

"So what? We're just supposed to just take you're word for it?" Carter asked, trying to elicit doubt in a person who no one should doubt. "We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after..." 

"After what?" Rick challenged, knowing exactly where Hunter was taking this. 

"After you wave a gun around. Screaming. Pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in FACE. After-"

"ENOUGH." Deanna said firmly, cutting Carter's sentence short and finally turning around to look at something other than the world outside before another silence fell among the room. 

"I'll do it." The tall man who'd told Rick about the camp in the quarry said, finally breaking the silence and encouraging others to volunteer as well - even the man that Maggie had told Hannah in confidence had tried to kill Glenn the night Daryl had come back. Glenn gave him a look of warning and Rick asked him to make sure he was able to handle the pressure of outside, his answer hardly convincing to Hannah before Rick nodded his approval and spoke again. 

"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will."

"The plan." Carter interrupted again. "Go through it again."

"Man, he just said it." Daryl finally spoke, looking over at him with look of pure irritation.

"Have you been paying attention? Like, at all?" Hannah added, realizing her incredulous tone wouldn't fare well if she would be helping Maggie and Deanna run this place. 

"Every part. Again." Carter continued, ignoring the both of them and instantly making her blood boil. "The exact plan."

Hannah shook her head and swallowed the tight knot of anger, choosing to ignore the fool she couldn't help but think would only cause problems later on and followed Daryl when he stood up and took her hand. 

"Can you believe that asshole?" Hannah complained as they walked down the steps and onto the street, not caring if Carter was behind them or not to hear her. 

"Guy's got a right to question it. Don't mean he ain't wrong, but he's got a right to." 

"Yeah, well even after Deanna called it, he still had a big enough pair of balls on him to make me think he might stir up some trouble later on." Hannah said despite knowing she sounded like a bigger pain in the ass than she should have been. 

"We'll keep an eye on him." Daryl added, looking behind them as they turn back toward the house. 

Hannah followed Daryl closely back inside the confines of the house they shared with Rick, Carl and Michonne, thankful to be back someplace she felt protected. Someplace she felt safe from the eyes of everyone who she'd only hardly made an effort to introduce herself to. Daryl disappeared upstairs for a few moments before coming back downstairs, his crossbow strapped behind his back.

"Where are are you going?" 

"Gonna go ride the roads around 'an see what we gotta do." He said as he opened the door and waited for her to join him. "You comin'?"


	21. Chapter 21

The sight before her was like something out of a movie and Hannah could hardly digest it all. The wide open quarry just in front of her roared with the groans of what had to be thousands of walkers packed into a herd at the bottom. It had taken the group a matter of a couple of days to get barricades set up to block the roads to Alexandria and now here everyone stood, speechless at the daunting and dangerous mission that stood ahead of them. 

In the days behind them, Rick had made a point to try and train the people of Alexandria how to fight the dead and at least know how to defend themselves while they were outside of the walls. But when none of them could quite grasp the severity of the danger that walkers were, their group had to step in and do the hard work for them, just as they'd had to do from the moment they walked through the gates. It was frightening to think they might never fully understand how important the skills of combat could be and Hannah frowned at the mission that laid before them. Not because of how immensely dangerous it would be, but because despite that, the people of Alexandria - or at least a majority of them - still wouldn't learn anything from it. 

But nevertheless, the barricades were built and the checkpoints were ready. All they needed to do now was get an idea of how many walkers they were dealing with before they would finally get started on the following day. 

"Let's head down there." Rick announced to everyone with them. "I'll show you where we'll let 'em out. And we'll lay out a plan for actually doing it." 

Slowly, everyone followed him down toward where several cars sat wedged next to two semi-trucks with their rear ends butted up against one another, every last one of them speechless at how fragile the make shift barricade really was. 

"Glad I brought an extra gun and my knife." Hannah said more to herself then anyone. 

"Why?" Daryl asked, watching walkers try to escape their confinement. 

"Because I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Well... we'll handle it if we gotta." 

"Now, everyone, I want to be clear, this is happening tomorrow. We'll split into our teams and everyone will radio in when they get to their check point... Now I know this sounds insane. But this is an insane world. We have to come for them, before they come for us. It's that simple... This is where it all starts tomorrow. Tobin gets in the truck. Opens the exit and we're off. We hop south. He catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road. Daryl gets on his bike with Hannah."

"Rick." Hannah said, her eyes growing wider as the trailers of the trucks started to give way across the quarry, opening up another exit point. 

"You see that?!" Someone else shouted. 

"WE GOTTA DO THIS NOW!" Rick yelled, looking back at everyone and back out at the quarry.

Everyone started to scatter and Hannah stayed close to Daryl, holding her gun at the ready just behind him as he pointed his cross bow to the walkers being quickly riled behind the truck that Tobin had just started. Shouts came from every which way as everyone rushed to get themselves into a car, Carter making a scene as he argued with Rick like he'd done all along, exactly as Hannah had expected. 

"Daryl, Hannah, get ready." Rick said over Carter's pleas to stop everything.

"THEY'RE COMIN'!" Daryl shouted, stepping backward. "HANNAH GET TO THE BIKE. GET READY!"

"THEY'RE HEADED FOR HOME. WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE. GET READY WITH THE FLARES. TOBIN, GET THE TRUCK!... NOW!"

"READY!" Hannah yelled, watching one of Daryl's arrows pierce the head of a walker as she quickly got onto Daryl's bike. 

The truck on the right moved forward a bit more and walkers poured out of the opening, their growls somehow growing louder than before. Daryl ran up to the bike and hiked his leg over the seat, the engine roaring to life beneath them before he pulled away and turned toward the the uphill exit. 

"You good?" Daryl asked, turning his head to the side to look over his shoulder.

"I'm good."

"You got ammo, right?"

"Both fully loaded and two more full mags." 

"That's my girl." He said smoothly, patting her thigh and waiting a moment for the walkers to catch up with them. "Hopefully we won't even need 'em."  
Hannah wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, kissing his shoulder as they slowly moved forward, the low roar of walkers constant behind them. Rick's voice came over the radio to let everyone hear how the plan would move and continue from here, his instructions as clear and concise as they could be given the unforeseen rush they hadn't quite been prepared for.

Daryl turned to the south and let go of one of the handles, letting his hand rest on Hannah's thigh as he continued down a long stretch of gravel road lined with cars. He took another turn and slowed down a bit to make sure the walkers were staying together on the road behind them. 

"We're at red. Bottom of the hill." Sasha's voice came over the radio just as the gravel road led onto the paved main road. 

"Alright, here comes the parade." He said into the receiver on his shoulder. 

The road made another curve ahead of them and Sasha and Abraham's car made a nearly silent turn onto the road along side Daryl's bike at the cluster of red balloons floating at the side of the road. 

The group moved slowly along the road, taking extra precaution to make sure the herd stayed on course and kept moving behind them as they approached another turn in the road. Flares were shot from behind the portions of steel walls and cars acting as barricades as Rick, Michonne and others turned the walkers' attention in the right direction and away from Alexandria. A while later, Hannah looked behind them to see a handful of walkers stray from the road and pulled out her gun to aim at them until the sound of a car door opening caught her attention as Abraham ran out toward the woods and whooped and hollered. 

"That dude is fucking nuts." Hannah laughed, shaking her head at knowing Abraham had a flair for being ridiculous in the best of ways. "Smart. But fucking nuts." 

"Guys got a hell of a sack on him." Daryl said, nodding at him as he ran back up to the car. 

Hannah lost track of how long they'd been on the road, the trees and roads ahead of them all blended together as the air turned humid and wet as it started to rain the further they went. But just as they started around another slight curve, the sudden buzz of an airhorn came from far in the distance in the east, jolting Hannah from her daze. She jerked her head to look behind them, looking back to see if the sound had caught the walkers' attention and thankful to see that at least from this distance, none of them had noticed. 

"Babe, we gotta go back. We need to go see what's going on." Hannah said, tightening her grip on Daryl's vest. 

"Rick!" Daryl said into his radio and nodded to her. 

"I'm here." Rick returned, his voice out of breath. 

"What's goin' on back there?"

"Half of them broke off, they're going towards Alexandria." He said, panicked. 

"Towards you?" Abraham said from over the radio. 

"We ran ahead. There's a horn or somethin', loud. It's coming from the east. It's not stopping." 

"I'ma gas it up and come back." Daryl added, revving the throttle of his bike. 

"I have it, you keep goin'." 

"They're gonna need our help."

"Gotta keep the herd moving!" 

"Not if shit's goin' down, we don't."

"We risk that, the herd turns around, the bad back there gets worse." Rick argued. 

Daryl paused as he thought to himself and Hannah watched him closely, hoping he'd do what she knew was right and go back to help where help was needed. 

"Daryl!" Rick said, wanting some kind of acknowledgement. 

"Yeah, I heard ya." Daryl finally said, taking the other handle again. 

"Daryl..." Hannah said, watching him struggle with his decision. "Baby, we have to see if they're okay." She pleaded, seeing in his face that he felt the same way. He reached behind him and gave her thigh another few pats, looking back at her and nodding his head before he sped up to catch up with Sasha and Abraham. 

"Hey!" He shouted, "We gone five miles out yet?"

"Give or take some yardage. You got a reason for askin'?" Abraham asked out the window. 

"Next intersection, I'm gonna spin around and go back." 

"The plan is to go fifteen more." Sasha noted, looking over at both of them. 

"Yeah, I'ma change that. Five's gonna have to work."

"The magic number is twenty. That's the mission. That's making sure they're not munchin' on infirm raccoons the rest of their undead lives instead of any of us." Abraham added.

"If you wanna go we can't stop you. But without you they could stop us."

"I don't think you guys'll have a problem keepin' these things in line. Abraham you kept 'em on the road a while back. If something's happened back home we won't have a home to go back to." Hannah shouted as Daryl looked up at a billboard boasting the promise of pre-turn Alexandria. "We need to make sure they're safe."

"Yeah. She's right." Daryl shouted, revving his engine and moving faster. "I got faith in ya!"

Abraham and Sasha shouted after them to stop and Daryl pushed on, rushing ahead of them in a desperate hurry to get home. He opened up the throttle and followed the road ahead, random walkers dotted in the trees as they sped by looking for the turn back east toward Alexandria. The radio crackled back to life on Daryl's shoulder as Rick came through the frequency, letting everyone know his location as he asked for Glenn and Tobin and getting no response. 

"Daryl?"

"I'm here." He said. 

"Won't be long now. They're almost here. We'll get 'em goin' your way again." 

"Shit." Hannah said under her breath. 

"How 'bout that, Daryl." Sasha said with a snotty tone. "He's gonna be comin' our way." 

"Goddamn it." 

"Maybe she was right." Daryl said, watching around them. 

"Maybe so. But we weren't wrong in wanting to make sure our people were safe." Hannah explained, tightening her arms around him. 

"There's gunfire comin' from back home." Rick finally said after a long pause. "We gotta sit with it. And hope they can handle it. I think they can... they have to. We're goin' forward for them. Can't turn back 'cause we're afraid." 

"We ain't afraid." Abraham said, his tone sure and poignant. 

"This is for them. Goin' back now before it's done, that'd be for us." Rick continued. "The herd to be almost here." 

"We weren't wrong, Daryl." Hannah returned, knowing he was second guessing himself. "We weren't wrong." 

The frequency stayed open for another pause until the sudden burst of gunfire rang through it and Hannah's stomach flipped. 

"Rick!" Daryl shouted. "Rick!"

There wasn't a response from him and Daryl sped up until he stopped at the side of the road, calling Rick twice more before he dropped his head and tried to accept the consequences of their decision to move ahead. 

"Daryl, we don't have time to beat ourselves up for leaving. We need to go." Hannah said, guilt starting to pull at her own conscience and nearly bringing tears to her eyes. With hardly a second to think, Daryl sped ahead, the country side passing them by as he raced down the road until they finally came up to another intersection just as Abraham and Sasha did. Thankful to see the herd still following them, Daryl turned to drive along side the car and nodded toward them. Hannah gave them a low wave and a resigned smile, hoping they wouldn't hold it against them for too long that they'd left. 

"How long you think it'll take?" Hannah asked quietly a while later, resting her cheek on Daryl's shoulder and letting her arms fall and rest her hands on his thighs. 

"Who knows." 

"Almost makes me miss those books Deanna gave me." 

"What books?"

"Oh she gave these awful books on government to help her and Maggie. Trying to read them is about as exciting as waiting at the DMV." 

Daryl huffed a laugh and brought one of his hands to hold hers, lacing their fingers together. Hannah had lost track at how far they'd gone once again, feeling the strain of sitting behind Daryl in her hips as she ached all the way from her thighs to her lower back. 

"My hips are so fucking sore." She said under her breath, leaning back and stretching her arms above her. 

"What, you can't handle me between your thighs?" Daryl joked, a light giggle escaping him when she gave his arm a playful punch. 

"Fucker." She laughed, watching as he turned toward the radio on his shoulder after Sasha's voice came through. 

"That's twenty?" Daryl said into the radio. 

"It will be. 642 is a mile ahead and we gotta put distance between us before the turn off." Sasha continued. 

"So floor it." Abraham added, giving Daryl the go ahead to speed up ahead. 

Hannah looked behind them at the herd still following, the distance between them and the herd growing further the faster Daryl went. 

"Try and keep up." He said a moment later as Hannah tightened her arms around him. 

"Daryl, have you looked at this car?" Sasha joked, the engine of the car roaring just a bit louder. "Believe me, we wanna get back there, too." 

Hannah turned to look back and smiled at them, knowing that the old and rusted vehicle had to be on its last legs. The sign for highway 642 came into view just a few minutes later and Daryl followed it to the left, the sun finally peaking out from the clouds that had been covering them most of the afternoon. 

They followed the road ahead into a small town of abandoned buildings until the sudden ring of gunfire blasted through the air and Daryl ducked his head down low. Several men came out from behind cars and buildings with guns drawn and bullets flying in their direction, their faces hidden behind their weapons before Daryl turned into a blocked alley way and lost control of the bike. Their bodies were thrown and Hannah somehow managed to avoid landing on her injured ankle, instead skidding on her thigh and feeling the agonizing burn of the road. 

"HANNAH!" Daryl shouted, picking up his bike and revving the throttle. 

"I'M GOOD! HOLD ON!" Hannah yelled, running back toward him just before he sped off again, their heads ducked as more gunfire flew through the air at them. Two more cars pulled in behind them and opened fire, driving close enough that Hannah could nearly touch the hood of their car. Daryl made a sudden turn around a large dumpster and maneuvered around a couple of walkers, still ducking out of their way to avoid their outstretched hands. A loud crash came from somewhere in the near distance and Hannah turned to see if Sasha and Abraham were in sight, her heart sinking when they were nowhere to be found. 

"Shit." Hannah hissed when a bullet hit her arm, looking down at the fresh blood starting to pour from her arm as Daryl turned toward the woods behind a parked semi trailer. Another car still sped behind them and Daryl turned quickly off the road, pulling far enough into the bushes to hide them before he turned around to check to see if Hannah was alright. 

"You okay? You hurt?" He asked, his voice just above a whisper as he caught his breath. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. My ass caught my fall. Bullet caught my arm but I'll be alright." Hannah said, looking up at him and checking the cut on his temple oozing with blood. "You're not. You're go-"

"Shh!" Daryl interrupted, looking toward the road and holding his hand up to stop her as he listened closely, the sound of the car that had followed them passing them before he pulled forward. Hannah wrapped her arms back around him and looked both ways down the road, the vehicle out of sight in both directions as Daryl pulled out of the trees and crossed the road and back into the forest on the other side. 

Hannah swallowed hard at the nerves tearing through her stomach and almost wanted to throw up, too worried about how they would find Abraham and Sasha and make it home for her to focus on much of anything else. 

Daryl pressed forward, the bike's engine rumbling beneath them before he slowed down enough for Hannah to get off of it. He followed suit and let the bike fall to the ground before he did the same, catching his breath as he laid on his back. Hannah rushed over to him and checked him up and down, holding her hand on his chest as she knelt down next to his shoulder. 

She looked at the woods around them and a tear slipped down her cheek, unsure of where to go from here. The breathy sound of a walker groaning came from just behind her and Hannah snapped her head to look over her shoulder, it's body melded into the ground and it's head moving slowly as it strained to look at them. Without hesitation, Hannah took her knife from it's sheath at her hip and forced it's head in the other direction, shoving her knife up into it's skull before silence fell among them once again. 

Daryl laid helpless on the ground as he tried to make sense of what had just taken place and Hannah couldn't help but let another tear fall silently down her cheek. She looked around them again and sniffed hard at the feeling of dread that surrounded them, their world somehow turning upside down as their futures started to become less and less promising. 

"You okay?" Daryl said, still laying on the ground and staring straight up into the sky. 

"No." Hannah said simply, staring blankly ahead of her. "No, I'm not." 

"Me neither." He returned, picking up one of his legs to bend his knee before he heaved himself from the ground and offered her his hand. "Come on." 

Hannah took his hand and stood up with him, swiping the dirt from her jeans and checking the pockets of her jacket to make sure her guns and ammo were still there. She looked back up at Daryl and stepped up to him, moving his hair out of his face to take a look at the cut still bleeding on his temple. 

"You're gonna need stitches for that." She said sadly, looking back at the woods around them. 

"You're gonna need 'em to." Daryl said, pointing to the deep cut on her upper arm and pulling the red handkerchief from his back pocket to tie it around her arm. "Come on." 

Hannah stopped him when he took a step toward his bike and held his arm for a moment, trying to get a grip of herself and the troubling situation they were in, struggling hard to keep hold of the hope that they could make it back home safely. Daryl pulled her body into his and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in the curve of her neck before he straightened up to press his forehead to hers, sticky with sweat and dirt and blood. Hannah brought her arms around him and gave him a kiss before she swallowed away the fear and unease and took a step back. 

"Alright well.. let's go then." She said, walking around to the other side of his bike. 

"I got it." Daryl said, his voice low and gritty as he picked up his bike and started to move further into the woods.


	22. Chapter 22

The forest was quiet and still as Hannah and Daryl moved slowly through the thick brush and trees. Daryl held his hands on both handles of his bike and weaved between the various types of trees and walkers laying on the ground, almost all of them black and charred from fires from who knew how long ago. Hannah helped him move his bike over branches and rocks until they came to a small dip in the hills and Daryl nodded to her for her to step around him, letting the bike fall onto it's side again. 

"We need to try and call them." Hannah said simply, checking the cut on his head again as he nodded and took the radio from his pocket and held it up. 

"Sasha. Abraham, you there?"

The radio remained silent, the static on the frequency disheartening and worrisome. Daryl hissed when he moved his arm and Hannah looked over at him instantly worried, his hand dripping with blood just before she walked over to him. 

"What hurts?" She asked, looking at the tattered holes and rips of his coat sleeve. 

"Here down." Daryl said, pointing to his elbow and down to his hand and peeling off his cut off gloves. 

"Take this off." Hannah said quietly, reaching for the collar of his jacket and carefully pulling it down to help him out of his coat. He grunted at the pain of moving his arm and she helped him pull it free of his sleeve, his arm covered in blood and from a thick cut on his elbow. 

"There's a pack on the side 'a my bike." Daryl said, trying to keep quiet. Hannah bent down and pulled the bag from just below the seat, handing it to him as she turned his arm in her hands to get a better look at the cut and wiping away some of his blood. 

The slight sound of movement came from just out of their line of sight and Hannah froze, listening carefully to their surroundings and trying to ignore the flood of nerves pulling at her stomach. 

Daryl turned around and pointed to his crossbow, not saying a word as he pulled a think branch over his bike and moved toward where the sound was coming from. He looked back at Hannah and nodded for her follow him, moving slowly through the brush with hardly a sound as she pulled out her gun and held it up, ready to fire at a second's notice. Slowly, the both of them moved through the burnt and blackened trees, listening carefully for any sign of movement until Daryl quickly rounded what looked like a pile of brush to see two women standing with their hands in the air. 

"You found us, kay? Here we are." The woman on the left said, hardly more than skin and bone. "Look, we earned what we took." 

Hannah gave her a confused look and Daryl started to turn to look the other way, the sound of footsteps drawing closer behind them. But a second later, before Hannah could react, another man hit Daryl hard in the head and he fell into a heap on the ground, out cold and unconscious. 

"What the fuck! Dar-" Hannah shouted as she threw herself toward him before her sentence was cut short, her unconscious body falling next to Daryl's as her world disappeared into a deep, black void.

***

The sound of a man's voice nearly shouting floated into Hannah's subconscience as she struggled to come to after who knew how many hours. The air was cold and she could feel her body shiver on the ground as well as her face wince at the pounding headache in the back of her skull. The man's voice continued to speak and Hannah could hardly differentiate his words, all of them blending together into nonsense in her head before she finally heard Daryl's harsh, low voice, already comforted knowing he was still alive. Hannah's eyes fluttered open and she couldn't help but groan into the cold, hard ground as she struggled to sit up and orient herself with her surroundings. Still in the same clearing where they'd found the people that knocked them out, Hannah turned to look just behind her left shoulder to see the man that had hit Daryl standing in his face, holding a gun to his head. 

"Say somethin' else. Go ahead." The man said as he cocked his gun and looked over at her. "It's about damn time." He continued, moving his gun to point directly between her eyes. "Get up. Now." 

Hannah tried to reach for the tree just next to her and failed, not realizing her wrists and been bound together before the man grabbed hard for her injured arm to yank her from the ground. A loud cry escaped from Hannah and she nearly collapsed at the searing pain shooting up her arm and down her spine. Daryl shot his head to back at her and turned to try and help before the stranger stopped and shoved him away. 

"GET UP." He shouted, pulling her injured arm again to help her stand, tears pouring down her face while she bit hard at her tongue to keep her sobs silent. He helped Daryl onto his feet and pushed them forward, pointing them toward where the same two women stood just a few yards ahead. 

"Follow them." He added, following behind Hannah and Daryl as they fell in line behind the other two and made their way through the woods. 

Staying close behind Daryl, Hannah walked carefully through the brush and ignored everything the two girls were talking about, focusing only on any kind of way she could get out of the rope tied tight around her wrists and get them back to safety. But even with her small, flexible wrists, Hannah struggled against them and failed at getting herself free from them. One of the girls ahead handed the man a half full water bottle before he offered it to Hannah, almost shoving it into her hand. 

"Drink it." He said nastily. "Or I'll force it down." He added, the muscles in Daryl's jaw flexing at his audacity to speak to her like she was nothing but a lesser life form. Hannah took the bottle and took a long enough drink before he took the bottle from her again and held it up to Daryl's hand, waiting for him to take it as he refused to and gave him a nasty look of warning. 

"We don't need you fallin' down. Drink." He said as Daryl took the bottle from him and quickly drank the rest of it in one long drink. "They find us, maybe we give you to them. They'd let us scald you. See, we're reasonable people. Everybody's got their code. You feel you gotta kneel, that's fair enough. We don't. Let's go." 

Unsure of who or what he was talking about, Hannah looked over at Daryl with a sadness that she hadn't felt in a while, wishing there were something, anything, she could do to save them from this. The two women continued through the trees, weaving along an imaginary path to some unknown location that Hannah couldn't imagine being any improvement in this area than the charred trees and old burnt skeletons themselves. 

"I can't believe we're back." One of them said to no one in particular. 

"It's not home anymore. It's better than where we were." The other added.

"This is just a pit stop. We pick up Patty, nothin' more than that."

"How'd you do it?" The first woman asked, looking up at the trees. 

"Saw where we left the truck? We opened the valve and drove all the way in from Farmview Road. Ran from the tree line 'til we got to the pavement, lit a match book from Sweetwater and dropped it in on the trail and just ran to the car. Got in and, dead ones were there, they were beatin' on the hood and then BOOM. Knocked 'em on their asses and I took an ax to each one."

"We just watched it go up. No more moans, no more of that wailing. It was just the fires, burnin' 'em all away." The second woman said up ahead as the man pushing them pressed his hard hard into Hannah's back. 

"You did all this?" Daryl finally asked, looking down at the black, charred ground dotted with incinerated bodies. 

"It was right at the start. Everything stopped. The TV. The radio. The forest was full of 'em. And the other ones in town were drawn to it, they just walked right into the flames. We got most of 'em. Thought we ended it for us. She was in D.C. We thought everyone was fighting them where ever they were."

"We thought that was what everybody was doing'. Fightin' it. We'd all win together. We were stupid."

"Y'all don't think you're bein' stupid right now?" Daryl asked as he stopped in his tracks. Hannah swallowed hard and nearly gasped out loud, her jaw dropping before she quickly closed it. The stranger turned around and pulled his gun from his belt and turned on them, holding it up to Daryl's face with a nasty grimace. 

"Are you sayin' I should kill you?" He threatened, looking from Daryl to Hannah and back before he moved his gun to point at her head. "Or maybe I kill her first and let you watch. I mean it. Are you gonna try and pull somethin' on us? Or are we just bein' thick here by not removing all doubt?... Right now, by me not pullin' this trigger, is that a mistake?" The man continued, moving the gun to point at Daryl's head again. 

"No." Hannah whispered, looking over at him with thick droplets of tears in her eyes. She couldn't get any other words out of her mouth, despite a million of them sprinting through her head as she tried to silently plead with him to lower the gun. 

"I'm serious, I really wanna know. You made the choice to kill for someone else to have them own you for a roof over your head and three squares? So maybe I'm not considering all aspects here. So tell me. Am I bein' stupid?"

Hannah shook her head and her tears silently fell as she looked away, terrified of losing the one man she'd loved more than anything in life and being completely powerless to stop it. 

"No." Daryl finally answered, pulling Hannah's attention back to look at him before he continued. "Look. I got somewhere to be. She needs a doctor. We can make a deal and we can help you out."

"You're one of them.You're hurt, and you're alone and you'd say anything... I should've never trusted you people to begin with." 

"We're one of who?" Hannah finally asked out loud, her expression begging for an answer so that maybe she could make sense of what they'd had to go through. The man ignored her question and pushed her toward Daryl, another sharp pang of intense pain shooting up her arm. 

"Go on. Keep moving." He finally said, his tone dark and threatening. He waited for both of them to move ahead of him and followed close behind, still holding his gun to their backs until he pushed them out into a clearing, chainlink fencing standing tall just ahead surrounding a parking lot where walkers stood and groaned among a bunch of semi trucks and trailers. Hannah and Daryl stood back as the three of them panicked in front of them, clearly upset and distracted enough with whatever their problem was to forget that the two of them could help each other get their ties off. 

"Ready?" Daryl breathed, making sure he wasn't loud enough for them to hear as he loosened her ties and looked up at her. Hannah nodded quickly and blinked away the tears threatening to fall. "Run." 

Without a second's hesitation, Hannah took off running back into the trees with barely a sound, focused on every step she took and ignoring the possibility of being caught or seen. Gunfire followed a series of loud shouts and Hannah stopped in her tracks, tucking herself behind a tree and praying Daryl would come out of the thicket of branches. She let out a brief sigh of relief when he burst out into the small clearing and she let him run ahead, following closely behind him and willing away the heavy burn of her lungs as she gasped for air while they ran. 

It felt like they'd been running for miles, even when Hannah knew it was only a fraction of that before Daryl jumped over a fallen tree and dumped the large canvas bag on the ground, tossing the rope still dangling from his wrist across the clearing and pulling hard at the zipper on the bag. 

"Is my jacket in there?" Hannah gasped, falling to her knees next to him and looking through the bag, thankful to see the warn denim jacket she wore like a second skin before Daryl yanked the radio out of the bag and hit the call button while she pulled on her jacket. 

"Sasha, Abraham, you there?" He said into the walkie talkie. The line was silent with no response and Daryl laid for moment on the ground, trying to figure out where to go from here. The sound of footsteps came from behind where Hannah knelt on the ground just next to him and she turned around. A walker came through the branches and was hardly anything more than bones and organs covered in moss, groaning louder the closer it got. 

"Knife." Hannah asked as she felt for hers and realized it as missing. "Daryl! Knife!" She hissed, trying to keep her voice down as she turned to watch him struggle with the canvas bag. "Daryl!" 

"Hold on!" He said in a near growl, finally freeing his crossbow and sinking an arrow into the walker's skull. Daryl fell back and laid on his back and Hannah sat down on the trunk just next to his feet, bringing her elbows to rest on her knees and dropping her face in her hands. 

"Daryl." She said, wiping her face and turning to look at him when something in the canvas bag caught her attention. Daryl looked up at her and saw the blank look of surprised disappointment on her face and turned to see what she was stuck on, slowly standing up before Hannah did the same. Both of them looked at the bright white cooler sitting there on the ground in the open bag, the plain black letters spelled out on the top in a pattern that neither of them could rightfully ignore. 

'INSULIN'

"God damn it." Hannah said underneath her breath as she bent over and grabbed her knees. 

"How the hell's a little thing like that stay alive this long needing' somethin' like this?" Daryl asked, more rhetorical than looking for an actual answer. Hating herself for being a better person than she should have been given what that group of people had done, Hannah walked over and picked up the bag and shrugged it onto her shoulder and across her body before she turned to leave. 

"Come on." She said, looking back at him and pulling out her gun. 

"We ain't takin' 'em with us." 

"Fuck no, of course not. But I can't live with myself if we just leave it here." 

Daryl nodded and Hannah waited for him to go ahead of her, both of them holding their weapons up and ready, listening carefully to the woods around them. They made their way back toward the direction they'd run until finally they heard the groups familiar voices and the three of them appeared, sitting on top of a dead and burnt tree. 

"Drop the gun." Daryl warned, holding his crossbow up and aiming at the man's head when he stood up. 

"Drop it!" Hannah said, matching Daryl's tone as she took a step forward. "Give it to me." 

"NOW." Daryl demanded, stepping closer behind her. The nameless stranger didn't hesitate as Hannah grabbed his gun and handed it back to Daryl and she gave him a cautious look, still holding her gun to his head. 

"You hardly put up a fight for that..." Hannah said, offended that he hadn't even tried to defend himself. 

"Came all this way." Daryl said, shoving the gun in his pocket. "What you got for the duffel?"

Daryl and Hannah waited for an answer for a moment, both of them growing more impatient by the second. 

"Speak when you're spoken to, asshole."

"You put us through too much shit just to give it back... principle of the thing." Daryl growled. 

"Nothing." One of the girls said weakly, both of them still sitting on the burnt tree stump. 

"What was that thing you were carvin'?" Daryl asked, turning his attention to the man in front of him. He reached into his pocket and handed over a small wooden figure, his expression slightly defeated. 

"Grandfather taught me-"

"Shut up." Hannah said, yanking it from his hand and giving it to Daryl.

"Don't care. It'll do." Daryl said, shoving the figure into his pocket and looking over at Hannah, giving her a small nod. 

"Here." Hannah said as she dropped the nearly empty canvas bag on the ground, stepping back away from it. 

"It's all there." Daryl called out as they both turned around to leave. "Good luck. You're gonna need it." 

The sound of branches breaking and an engine roaring suddenly came from behind them and Daryl and Hannah both tucked themselves behind a small thicket of trees, watching carefully as an old blue truck drove into the the small clearing. Men started to walk up to the small group still standing in the clear and Hannah struggled to see them, only their legs and feet visible from where she crouched with Daryl. 

Both of them listened carefully as the two groups argued about some kind of stolen property, wishing making a run for it were an option. Hannah held onto Daryl's belt and he looked back at her, the look in his eyes saying everything she needed to hear. Telling her that he was with her no matter what came next - that he would get her home not matter what it took to get her there. 

More shouts came from the groups in the clearing before the truck started to move again and Daryl stood up, looking ahead to see what was happening. Hannah stood up with him and he pointed behind them, quietly telling her to go before he stepped forward and reached out to get the attention of the group that had taken them. 

"Hey! That way. That way! Go, go go!" He said just under his breath, pointing toward the large heap of brush Hannah was peaking around. Daryl helped the youngest one of the group up and kept running, tucking themselves behind another thick pile of branches. The older woman knelt down with the other and held her head on her thigh as she laid there nearly unconscious, reaching into the canvas bag and getting a syringe ready to save the life of the girl who Hannah was shocked to see had even made this long. Daryl handed the man's gun back to him and watched carefully at the man stalking toward them, rustling a branch of leaves to catch his attention. 

Hannah nudged his arm and gave him a look of angry warning and he pointed ahead. He had gotten the man's attention just as he walked past a walker wedged between an old truck and a tree and just in time for it to grab hold of him, sinking it's teeth into his arm. But just as soon as he was bitten, the stranger shouted for the leader of his group and within mere moments, his lifeless arm was on the ground and the both of them were headed in the opposite direction, none the wiser that the five of them were still watching. 

"We thought you were with them." The man finally spoke up, looking up at both Hannah and Daryl as they stood up carefully and took a step back. "We knock you over the head. Tie you up. Threaten to kill you... Why the hell did you come back?" He asked, at a clear loss for words.   
Hannah brought her hand to move smoothly along Daryl's back and watched him, moving her other hand to hold out his arm and check the cut on his elbow. 

"Hm. Maybe we're stupid, too." Daryl said simply, nodding toward Hannah before he took a step away. Hannah gave him a gentle nod and the five of them set off as a group, headed away from the clearing into parts so far unknown.


	23. Chapter 23

"So you knew 'em, still you thought we were with 'em?" Daryl asked as he and Hannah walked through the woods, the three strangers easing up and becoming more understanding, even slightly pleasant to be around. 

"How would you think that if you were with them too?" Hannah added, stepping over a tree trunk. 

"Where we were, we were there since the beginning and we still didn't know everyone. Back when we first threw in with 'em, it was as good a place as any. And as things got harder, people got harder... human nature kicked and... became a truly unique kind of shit show." The man who'd introduced himself as Dwight said, fumbling with his hands as they started up another hill. 

"People will trade anything for safety. Knowing that they're safe?" The older woman named Sherry added.

"Everything. So they got nothin' left except just... existing." Dwight continued. 

"Ain't nobody safe no more. Can't promise people that anyhow." Daryl said casually. 

"You can promise the people who wanna hear it." Dwight returned, as Daryl looked back toward Hannah. 

"That's the kind of promise that'll get you killed." Hannah chimed in, holding Daryl's hand with their fingers laced together. 

"Hey, Tina, hold up!" Dwight shouted as the other girl ran ahead toward the burnt frame of what used to be a green house. She walked into the open door frame and toward two bodies covered in what looked like glass or hardened plastic, explaining how she'd known them in the world before the turn, a sadness in her voice that Hannah could almost relate to. But only moments later, as she knelt over them with a handful of bright yellow wildflowers, the bodies reanimated and broke through their hardened casing, knocking Tina down between them before one of them took a gaping bite of her neck. Her screams tore through the air and Hannah rushed toward her, grabbing her knife from it's sheath and plunging it into the skull of one of the walkers just as Daryl did the same to the other. 

Sherry cried out loudly, repeating herself as she apologized over and over for wanting to "try" to right whatever wrong they'd committed. Dwight took a step out of the greenhouse and out into a clearing just beyond the burnt ruins, clasping his hands together and holding them behind his head as he tried to accept the consequences of his actions. Hannah looked over at Daryl as she wiped the old blood off of her hands and walked over toward him, holding her hand on his belt and watching Dwight and Sherry digest the loss they'd just suffered. 

"I'll go look for some shovels." She said softly, giving his side a gentle pinch and stepping around the bodies on the ground. 

"I'm comin'." 

The shed sat just past the greenhouse was tiny and in nearly as bad a shape as the greenhouse itself, hardly held together by anything more than a few nails and some wood glue with it's roof nearly missing altogether. But inside, there was enough room for both of them as Hannah and Daryl stepped inside, neither of them worried about whether there was a shovel nearby and instead solely focused on checking how the other was doing. Hannah walked up to him and swept his hair out of his face, checking the cut on his head and disappointed to see it still slowly bleeding. 

"That's gonna need stitches, too." She said quietly, wiping some of the blood from his face and onto her jeans before taking his arm in her hands and taking a careful look at it.

"Think we'll fuckin' match." Daryl returned, pointing at the blood soaked handkerchief wrapped around her upper arm, the wound beneath it painful and angry. 

"Assuming we ever make it back." Hannah added, a sadness to her voice that struck a tender cord in Daryl. 

"We'll get there." He said, taking her hand in his and holding it gently. 

Hannah nodded and stepped into the corner of the shed, grabbing the two shovels leaning against the wall and returning to hand one of them to him. She leaned in close and kissed him, holding his cheek gently for a moment before she stepped out of the shed and went to walk back toward the greenhouse before Daryl stopped her. 

"I ever tell you about the questions?"

"About the what?"

"The questions? Don't think I did... never had to ask you after.. you know, the way we met." 

"Questions? What kind of questions?"

"Me an' Rick an' Michonne, and Glenn an' Maggie all came up with these questions we gotta ask when we're thinkin' about bringin' somebody into the group..."

"Oh... no, I don't think you did... are you thinking about asking them?"

"Thinkin' about it..."

"What are they?"

"There's three of 'em."

"That's it?"

"Mm. How many walkers you kill, how many people you kill, and why."

"Those seem... painfully simple. Kinda leaves a lot of room for error don't you think?"

"Nah.. the answers are loaded. It ain't just about the answers. It's HOW they answer."

"Like their tone?"

"Mmhm."

Hannah looked from the two people over at the greenhouse and back at Daryl, still unsure if asking these two to join them was the smartest idea. but then again, she wasn't the recruiter of the two of them. Maybe she was looking at the other two too harshly, perhaps he had a point to be optimistic and reason to give them the benefit of the doubt. 

"I'm not so sure about it. But if you think so, then I'm behind you 100%." Hannah said easily, tucking her fingers inside the front of his belt and pulling him close again, giving him a soft kiss before pushing him back toward the others. He took the shovel from her and handed it to Dwight who still stood in the open clearing and the both of them started to dig, the time passing slowly no matter how much progress they'd made. 

After a long while, Daryl stopped his digging and took a small step back, looking back toward Hannah and looking for any kind of tell that she was okay with him asking them his questions. Still unsure, Hannah said nothing as she leaned her elbows on her knees and shrugged her shoulders, giving him a gentle nod that it was his call to make and not hers. 

"Hey.' He finally said, still watching Dwight continue to dig. "How many walkers you killed?... Just answer the question." He continued when Dwight hesitated. 

"A lot. A couple dozen at least." 

"How many people you killed?"

"None."

"Why?"

"I haven't killed anybody.. 'cause if I did, there'd be no goin' back. No goin' back to how things were."

Daryl looked back and Hannah just as Dwight did and she waited for either of them to continue, giving away nothing before the both of them looked back at the other. 

"We're from a place. People are still like they were... more or less. Better or worse." 

Dwight said nothing and looked over at Sherry still struggling with her grief as he continued to dig, giving away nothing that could be taken as an answer. Daryl started to dig again and before too much time passed, the graves were ready and the bodies were buried, covered again with the dry earth and marked with a couple of simple crosses Hannah had made out of sticks and vines. 

The four of them finally picked up their bags and Daryl led them back in the direction from which they'd come, all of the forest around them looking exactly the same to Hannah as she followed close behind him. Giving up trying to make any sense of their direction, she focused only only watching him ahead, glad that they had made it this far together and even happier that she had chosen to go with him the previous day to see how the plan was going to work, despite it being thrown off course. Another clearing opened ahead and Hannah immediately recognized the helmeted walker on the ground, laying just next to where Daryl had laid his bike. 

"We can walk from here. We can meet up with our friends. They got a car, you ride with them." He said casually, lifting the dead branches off of his bike and picking it up. 

"How many friends did you say there were?" Dwight asked, the look on his face sending up a series of red flags in Hannah's mind as he and Sherry stopped behind them. 

"I didn't. There's two of 'em." 

"Where are they?"

"We don't know.. but we'll find out." Hannah chimed in, nodding her head and trying to ignore and cover up her overwhelming sense that something here wasn't right. She pulled her arm close into her side to feel her gun in her pocket, relieved to know she had a way to protect them just in case any of this took a wrong turn. 

"How do you even know they got away and didn't get taken?"

"We don't." Daryl said, starting to push his bike back toward the road they still couldn't see. Hannah followed close behind him until he slowly stopped, looking in the small mirror perched on the left handle of his bike. "Damn it. Hannah get back behind me" He said just under his breath as he dropped his bike back to the ground and pushed Hannah behind him, holding up his crossbow and aiming toward Dwight who cocked his gun and aimed it directly at his head. 

"I'm sorry." Dwight said quietly, standing just next to Daryl's bike. "Give her the crossbow." 

"You gonna go back? Where you'll be safe?" Daryl asked, keeping his arm held behind him to keep Hannah out of harms way. 

"Shut up." Dwight said firmly, moving the gun to point at Hannah's head. 

"There's nowhere safe anymore. We can at lea-" Hannah added before Dwight interrupted her, wishing she could pull her gun out without him noticing so that she could end this and kill them both. 

"SHUT. UP. Give her. The crossbow." He demanded, still pointing his gun directly at her head. 

"You gonna kneel?" Daryl asked, disgust lacing his words. 

Dwight barely moved his gun to point just to the right of Hannah's head and pulled the trigger, both of them flinching at the sudden shot of gunfire. Daryl pulled the strap of his crossbow off his shoulders and handed it over to Sherry before she took the gun from Dwight so that he could pick up the bike. He gave it a fierce kick start and she reached into a pocket of her duffel bag, tossing a couple of packages of gauze at Daryl's feet, stepping toward the bike. 

"Patch yourself up." She said before she hopped onto Hannah's place on the bike that symbolized every last ounce of good that Daryl was. "We're sorry." 

"You're gonna be." Daryl growled, just before the two of them rode away and disappeared into the trees. Hannah's blood boiled in her veins and she struggled to keep her angry tears from falling, holding her hand up to cover her mouth. 

Daryl reached behind him and without looking, grabbed blindly for Hannah's arm, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. 

"Daryl..." Hannah said, her voice quiet and weak under too many bad things happening too closely together. A massive lump in her throat nearly choked her as she let the tears of anger and overwhelming sadness finally fall, silently sobbing into Daryl's shoulder and wishing she could be stronger than this. She knew there could always be a way out, that they could always find their way home on foot. But after the last two days and after so many things had gone so wrong, it was hard to keep herself from getting lost in a deep, dispiriting pit where she felt completely helpless and completely hopeless. "What are we going to do?"

"We're gonna find Sasha and Abraham and we're gonna get home." He said calmly, moving his hands up and down her back before she pulled away and looked up at him. Hannah took a deep breath and swallowed hard at the painful knot in her stomach, willing herself to be stronger than she was for the millionth time before she brought her hand to hold along his side. 

"We aren't totally defenseless though..." Hannah started, pulling both guns from the inside pockets of her jacket. "I couldn't really get to one with him pointing his at your head... I couldn't risk him killing you."

"Hm. Good. One less thing they stole."

"It's fully loaded. And I've got another full mag for it."

Daryl brought his arms to wrap around her again and dipped his head down to kiss her softly, already bringing a new sense of hope to the situation that had only seemed to get worse as the day progressed. Hannah broke away from his kiss and kept her forehead pressed gently to his, thankful to be alive and to know he was too, and even more so that she had chosen to come with him so that she could know for sure. 

"I love you." He said, his voice low and quiet as they stood their in the silent and still woods. 

"I love you, too." Hannah returned, moving her hand up and down along his side before she rest her cheek to his chest, looking absently out toward the trees until something caught her attention and pulled her away from him. "Daryl..." She added, pulling his coat and vest from underneath the brush pile and holding it up for him. 

Daryl walked up to her and she peeled his bloody jacket out from the inside of his vest and watched him shrug into it, glad to see him as he always was, the man with devilish scowl and the soul of a rugged angel. 

"Come on." He said, giving her butt a playful pat and pointing her in the direction of the wood again. 

Weaving through the trees and into yet another small clearing, Hannah and Daryl stopped as they looked down at yet another skeleton, it's head moving slowly and a breathy rasp escaping from inside it's helmet until Daryl noticed something in the dirt just beyond it. Hannah looked all around the clearing while he swept away at the dirt and brush before she noticed something that didn't quite fit. 

A large dark bundle of branches sat at the far end of the clearing just ahead of Daryl and Hannah stepped toward it just as he stood up and did the same, both of them pulling at the branches to review a truck that had come from the same fenced parking lot that Dwight, Sherry and Tina had taken them two earlier in the day. 

"How long you think that's been there?" Hannah asked, walking around the side and knocking on the sides of the trailer to check for any walkers that might be trapped inside. 

"Don't know. Don't care neither. Long as it runs, it's our ticket back." He said cooly, walking around the cab door and rearing his head back when a walker suddenly appeared in the drivers seat. Daryl opened the door and quickly stabbed his knife into it's skull before he tossed the body out of the truck, giving Hannah's butt another playful smack as a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Get in." 

Hannah let a light laugh escape from her as she heaved herself up into the passenger side and watched him turn over the ignition, trying a few times before the engine finally turned over and rumbled to life. 

"Fuckin' a. This is it." He said, grabbing her hand and lacing his fingers with hers before bringing the top of her hand to his lips and giving her playful kiss. Hannah smiled and he gave the truck some gas, carefully maneuvering them back to the road and back toward the town where they'd lost track of Sasha and Abraham. 

"You think they'll still be here?" Hannah asked, sliding over to sit next to him to see if there would be room for all four of them in the cab. 

"If they know me at all, they know I'll look for 'em here." Daryl answered, slowing down to look carefully along the streets. 

"Daryl, look." Hannah said, pointing to a plain white door in the front of a brink building with his last name written below a company sign. She looked up at the building and at each of the windows before Daryl rolled to a stop and put the truck in park, a smile pulling at her lips when she noticed Abraham's bright red hair in one of the windows upstairs. "They're here." She added, opening the door and pouring herself out of the front seat. 

Sasha and Abraham emerged only a minute later, carrying a large black case and a tan canvas bag with them before Hannah ran up to both of them and check them for any cuts or bruises. 

"I was starting to think we'd really lost you guys." Sasha said, handing Daryl the canvas bag to let him put in the back of the truck. 

"I didn't think we'd ever get out of those woods." Hannah returned, watching as Abraham handed the case he'd been carrying to Daryl. "What's in the case?"

"Those, little lady, are 2.36 A.T. Rocket Launchers. One of the ballsiest ways to light up the ass of an asshole you don't like. Guaranteed." Abraham winked as he puffed on a cigar, it's smoke thick and hard to breath as she took a step away and waved it away. 

"Alright well, can we go now?" Sasha added, opening the passenger door. 

"YES. PLEASE." Hannah playfully begged, walking around to the driver's side and climbing in just before Daryl followed. 

The truck started with another loud rumble and the four them took off, heading back toward the east and the promise of home. Hannah leaned in close to Daryl and held her arm on his back, hoping there was enough room for both Sasha and Abraham behind her as she tried to angle herself more on one hip. 

"Abraham, I dig the new jacket, by the way." Hannah said, breaking the easy silence as Daryl drove them around a soft curve in the road. 

"Thank you, kindly." He smiled, watching the road up ahead as Hannah turned to see Daryl pulling the walkie talkie from the dash board. 

"Rick. You copy?" He waited, the line nothing but static. "Anybody?"

The frequency crackled and the sound of a broken voice came through, their words muffled and interrupted by a break in the line. 

"Say it again?" The line went silent for another brief moment and Hannah listened carefully, the next single word coming over the frequency haunting and making her swallow hard at the giant knot of fear lodged in her throat. 

"HELP."


	24. Chapter 24

"What the hell?" Hannah asked, her words coming out in nearly a hiss laced with panic as the sight of a group of men on motorcycles sat blocking the road. "First that weird ass radio call, now this?"

"What's the play?" Sasha asked as she and Abraham both looked directly ahead when Daryl slowed to a stop. 

"Can't really make one. Don't know what they want, don't have nothin' to give." He answered, cutting the engine.

"Are you forgetting about the rocket launchers we have in the back?" Hannah said under her breath, trying not to turn her head. "They could kill us for those."

"WON'T YOU COME ON OUT. JOIN US IN THE ROAD." The man in front shouted, acting as if the situation didn't already seem hostile. 

The four of them poured out of the cab of the truck and did as the stranger asked, the eyes of the rest of his group carefully canvassing them, holding their guns proudly for them to see that whatever they were there for, they were going to get. 

"Ah, that's great. Goin' well right outta the gate." The man continued as they came up to stand on either side of the truck. "Now step two, hand over your weapons." 

"Why should we?" Daryl asked defiantly as Hannah stood directly next to him, wishing she could control her quickening pulse. 

"Well they're not yours." The man answered simply, like it should have been common knowledge. 

"Who's are they?" Sasha asked quietly from the other side of the truck. 

"Your property... now belongs to Negan." He said, the look in his eyes threatening and serious. Hannah felt herself visibly react as she squeezed her eyebrows together in disgusted confusion "If you can get your hands on a tanker, your people our person wants to know. So lets get those side arms, shall we?" He continued, walking up toward Daryl who stood his ground. Hannah remained absolutely still, praying the handle of her gun wasn't visible from the inside of her jacket. "Right now." The stranger said as he stopped in front of him. 

Daryl did as he asked and handed him the gun Hannah had given him from where he had it tucked in the back of his belt, staring him down and looking out at the rest of them. The man turned to look at Hannah and gave her what he probably thought was a charming smile that nearly made her throw up, still holding Daryl's gun in his hand. 

"I think I'll come back to you." He said, giving her a wink and slowly walking over toward Sasha and Abraham. Hannah made a point not to react and swallowed hard, instead choosing to look up at Daryl and wishing she could take his hand, knowing it wouldn't be smart. 

Standing directly in front of Abraham, the man waited for him to turn over his weapon and Abraham refused, standing tall and straight like the soldier he was. 

"If you have to eat shit, best not to nibble. Bite, chew, swallow. Repeat. Goes quicker." He said, the condescension in his voice sickening and making Hannah's blood boil. Abraham finally turned over his gun and the stranger turned back to his them, looking over at Hannah who still stood next to Daryl, waiting to see what this piece of shit wanted from her. 

"Who are you people?" Sasha asked, her arms folded under her chest. 

"I get the curiosity. But we have questions ourselves. And we'll be the ones asking them while we drive you back to where ever it is you call home." He answered, dropping their guns into a bag on another man's bike. "But... before I do that, I don't wanna forget about Blondie over here." He added, turning to look at Hannah and stalking toward her. 

Hannah kept her eyes on him, staying completely still as she held her ground and noticed Daryl growing anxious the closer he got. 

"Now I know for a fact... a girl like you has a LOT to give. Right?" He said, carefully looking her up and down. "And I also know, that our guy does, too. And I know he'd be willing to do a looooot of givin' to a girl like you... What's your name there, sugar?"

Hannah bit down hard and felt the muscles in her jaw flex, trying to will away the instinct to grab her hidden gun and put a bullet in between his eyes. 

"Hannah." She finally said, sickened by the way he was looking at her. 

"Ah, Hannah. I know for another FACT... that our guy DEFINITELY wants to know a girl like you. Tell you what, why don't you do your friends here a favor and stand right over there, and I won't kill any of 'em." He said, pointing at the side of the road. 

Tears immediately burned at the backs of Hannah's eyes and she swallowed hard, giving Daryl a quick glance and trying to tell him without words how sorry she was to have to make this choice. He gave her a gentle nod and she did as the stranger had asked, stepping off the pavement to stand in the grass while he returned to his bike. 

"Now, where was I?.. Oh. Questions. Right. So. We'll get makin' fast friends on the way to where you guys call home and you probably want to know why. And that, my friends, is simple. To take a look at where you hang your hats... First though, your shit. What've you got for us?"

"Yeah, you just took it." Daryl said, looking even more irresistible than ever before as Hannah stood off to the side, her heart already breaking at the possibility of being taken away from him. 

"Come on... I mean, can we not?" The man said, looking annoyed and disappointed. "There's more. There's always more." He added before he gave a resigning sigh. "T. Take my man to back of the truck. Start inside the back bumper. Work your way to the front." He instructed while another man from his group got up from his bike and grabbed Daryl by the collar and pushed him toward the rear end of the truck. 

"Bite. Chew. Swallow. Repeat." 

"Who's Negan?" Abraham asked, the supposed lead of the group immediately pulling his gun and pointed it at his head. 

"Ding dong, hell's bells... You see usually, we introduce ourselves by just poppin' one of ya right off the bat. But you seem like reasonable people. You're sportin' dress blues for Christ's sake. And like I said, we're gonna drive you back to where you were. I mean, do you know how awkward it is carpooling with some who's friend or friends you just killed?" The leader went on, still holding his gun and aiming it at them. "But I told you not to ask any questions... and then what does this ginger do? So that's that. But I don't want to give you the wrong impression of me." He continued, pulling the stock of his gun just as Sasha finally spoke up. 

"WAIT... Wait. You don't have to do this." She pleaded, hoping to level with him and failing when he pulled out another gun to aim it at her. Hannah stood there stunned into silence, at a complete loss for words or the conviction to say anything for fear that he would fulfill his threat and kill one or both of them. Hardly able to watch any more of it, Hannah looked away and back toward the back of the truck, worried about the eerie silence coming from where she knew Daryl had put the rocket launcher. 

"I'm not gonna kill you." The leader said before Hannah looked back at him to see he had dropped his guns, feeling a slight twinge of relief and hoping he was serious. But a second later, the slight sound of a light whistle came from behind the truck and she carefully looked over to see Daryl stalking from behind, pointing toward the tree line. She slowly took a step back and looked back at the group of men still sitting on their bikes, their leader taunting Sasha and Abraham. 

"Wait... wait... you know what?" He added, pretending to give the decision careful thought. 

Right at that second, Hannah looked back at Daryl who stood with the rocket launcher aimed and ready, pulling the trigger just as the leader held his guns up and the entire group went up in flames, their bodies instantly ripped to shreds by the force and heat of the blast. The explosion blew Hannah off of her feet and she landed hard on her side before she immediately picked herself up, taking in every detail of the incinerated bikes and bodies on the road ahead of them. Daryl slowly walked toward the front of the truck, the launcher smoking as he looked at the results of the blast. 

Bewildered and in total awe of what she'd just witnessed, Hannah quickly brushed herself off and ran back to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips hard against his in a deep, desperate kiss. 

"Holy shit, Daryl." She mused, pulling back to look at him and wishing she could witness it again. "You just... holy shit." Hannah continued, completely speechless. He gave her ass a nice squeeze and looked over at Sasha and Abraham as they picked themselves up and walked toward them. Looking back at Hannah, he gave her another gentle nod and turned toward the back of the truck before he said anything. 

"Som' bitch was tougher'n he looked." Daryl said as the four of them looked back at the body laying on the ground. 

"Did he cut you?" Sasha asked, hugging him and giving his shoulder a good pat. Hannah stepped around to look at his other shoulder, blood oozing from a small wound before she gently wiped it away. 

"A little." He answered, turning back to look at the carnage again. "What a bunch a' assholes." 

Hannah, Sasha and Abraham all huffed laughs and Hannah held his arm pulling him back toward her and hugging him tight, moving her hands down to tuck into his belt just above his butt. 

"That was so fucking hot." She whispered, hardly able to contain the rabid need coursing through her veins. "And you're going to get a badge of fucking honor tonight for it." She said smoothly, before she kissed his cheek again. "Now, let's get you fixed up at home."

"Yes ma'am." He said, his voice deep and gritty and stirring her need even more. 

Hannah climbed back up into the truck and Daryl gave her ass a playful slap, biting his bottom lip at the sight of her as he slid into the seat right next to her and started the truck with a loud rumble. He pulled around the rubble and turned back around, choosing a different direction toward Alexandria as the sun started to fall and the air started to cool. 

The ride was calm and quiet and Hannah leaned against Daryl's shoulder, watching the countryside go by and the world darken around them. Daryl’s skin under her fingertips was warm and glistening with sweat and Hannah moved one of her hands along his side and around to the front of him, sliding it down his stomach to his crotch to feel his cock growing harder by the second. 

“I’ve got you, huh?” Hannah breathed into his ear, tugging on his ear lobe with her teeth. Daryl took her hand in his in his lap and held it firmly, leaning over and giving her a fast kiss just before he turned down the road toward Alexandria. 

“Woah, Daryl, look.” Sasha said, her eyes wide at the once tall, sturdy metal walls now laying broken and destroyed on the ground. Daryl stopped the truck and watched carefully at the walkers around them slowly walking into the community they called home. 

“Son of a bitch.” Abraham added, leaning forward and getting antsy. 

“Still got that gun?” Daryl asked, giving Hannah’s hand a gentle squeeze. 

“And my knife.” 

“You’re gonna need ‘em.” 

“Go.” Sasha said with heavy purpose. “Abraham and I’ll get up on the scaffold and check inside and get someone to open the gate.” 

Daryl cleared his throat and rolled the truck forward before stopping at the gate for Abraham to pour out of the door and pull the first one open, shouting and grunting gleefully as he plunged his knife into the skulls of three walkers before he hurriedly climbed back into the truck. 

Hannah watched wide eyed as Sasha and Abraham shot their machine guns behind the walls, growing more anxious by the minute until the gate finally opened and the two of them climbed down and joined them again outside the truck. 

“We need to get Maggie off the perch.” Sasha said, catching her breath and pointing to the scaffolding to their right. Daryl nodded and maneuvered the truck just inches away from it, waiting as Abraham and Sasha both climbed to the top and helped Maggie and the young girl Enid onto the truck. Glenn walked around the front of the truck and gave them a gentle nod in thanks and Hannah lifted her hand to wave back, opening the door for him to join them inside. 

“What the hell happened?” Daryl asked him as Glenn’s lungs heaved in heavy breaths. 

“I dunno, I just got back. We gotta get these things away from here.” 

“Any ideas?” Hannah asked, coming up blank herself. The other three stayed silent and she looked over at Daryl who sat chewing at his bottom lip, wondering what he was thinking. 

“We… we can… we can lead some of them away. But they’re scattered.” Glenn said, still breathless and worried. 

“They’re scattered but they’re too close together. We need to keep them that way, take 'em out all at once somehow." Hannah added, watching the hundreds of walkers roaming the streets of their home. 

“She’s right. Keep ‘em all together. Won’t have to lead ‘em away.” Daryl agreed, pounding on the roof of the truck cab. 

Hannah looked ahead of them and looked at their surroundings, trying to think of a way to use what they had to do the most damage and draw the most walkers into their own demise. And as she looked ahead at the pond, an idea popped into her head just as Daryl sat up and shifted the truck into gear. 

“If we back up the truck to the pond we can drain some gas into the water.” She said, swallowing hard at the hoards of walkers surrounding the truck and following them as they moved.

“Light up these sons ‘a bitches.” Daryl added, reaching down to squeeze her leg. Hannah held his arm for a moment before looking ahead and pulling her knife out of it’s sheath when Glenn opened the door and ran toward a group of walkers. Daryl acted fast in maneuvering the truck around to back onto the bank and turned to get out of the cab. Hannah grabbed his hand and her heart started to race, the adrenaline of what they were about to face far too unnerving and unpredictable than she was comfortable with. 

“I love you.” She said with as steady a voice as she could muster. “If this kills me, or you or both of us. Whatever happens. I love you more than anything.” 

Daryl pulled her in for a deep, delicious kiss, holding his hand on her neck just below her ear and pressing his forehead to hers for a brief moment before he looked into her eyes, the conviction and gentle vulnerability behind his eyes melting her heart. They hadn’t had to deal with this many walkers together at once without a real plan, and although she knew that they were both more than capable of handling themselves, the sheer masses of them had her worried. Dealing with them was possible, but the reality of it was terrifying and Hannah couldn’t risk either of them losing the other without her telling him again, for the thousandth time, how much she truly loved every piece of him. 

“You're everything.” Daryl finally said, kissing her again. “Gonna climb up on top ‘a the truck an’ light this thing up. Mind coverin’ my back?”

“Oooh, don’t you worry about your ass.” Hannah teased, pushing him out of the cab and following him to the back. 

He rushed to the back of the truck with Hannah close behind to keep a close eye on the walkers making their way toward them, their empty, dead eyes watching the both of them as they groaned and wailed for the meals they would never get. She ran up to the small group of five or six and quickly drove her blade into their skulls, leaving their rotted bodies on the ground in a heap and turning back toward the truck where Daryl was opening up the valve of the truck and pouring fuel into the water. 

Hannah ran up to another group of walkers and quickly took them out before she returned to the back of the truck, helping Daryl close the valve and waiting for Glenn, Sasha and Abraham to load back into the cab of the truck. 

“Get up there!” Daryl shouted, grabbing the rocket launcher he’d just finished loading and grabbing her side. Hannah moved fast and climbed up the side of the truck to stand at the top, looking out at the place they called home with a deep sense of worry, hoping this plan would work. 

“PULL UP!” He yelled, pulling Hannah close into his body just as the truck jolted forward and nearly knocked the both of them off of their feet. “ALRIGHT LET’S SEE IT.” He added, pounding on the roof of the truck again before he picked up the launcher and turned toward the pond behind them. “Behind me.” 

Hannah tucked herself behind him and waited, holding her hands on either side of his waist as she watched the dark neighborhood around them, wondering what would come next if their plan happened to work - or what would happen if it didn't. Wondering if anything could be somewhat normal again - or if they even wanted it to be. But before she could let herself get too lost in her thoughts, another jolt shook Daryl’s body and a sudden blast of bright orange heat lit the water on fire. 

Daryl dropped the launcher onto the top of the truck and Hannah kissed him, watching around them to see walkers flocking to the heat and light that would kill them. She moved her hand smoothly along his back and swallowed at the tears of relief burning at the backs of her eyes, far too proud of the man who’d just saved their community to even begin to think of words to describe it. 

“You just saved us all.” She said simply, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you.” 

“Love you.” Daryl finally said, still watching the fire blaze in front of them before he turned to kiss her temple and bring his arm around her shoulders. 

Hannah brought her hand to hold gently on his forearm and gave him one last kiss, stepping away from him and moving to carefully climb down. Daryl followed close by and the both of them walked toward their home through the invaded streets, watching as members of their group lost themselves in killing the remaining walkers on the streets before joining them themselves, fighting more walkers than either of them had had to fight in a long, long time.


	25. Chapter 25

“What happened?” The woman who’d taken the responsibilities as the doctor asked. “I’m Denise, by the way.” She added, setting a metal tray of gauze and hemostats on the metal stand next to the counter where Daryl sat. 

“Some group of guys on the road tried to steal our stuff. One of ‘em cut him.” Hannah answered, standing off to one side. 

“She’s gonna need stitches, too.” Daryl said, reaching with his other arm to pull Hannah next to him. 

“What happened there?” Denise asked, nodding toward the red handkerchief still wrapped around Hannah’s arm. 

“Gun shot. Grazed I think, but it’s deep.” Hannah answered, hissing as she pulled the handkerchief off and dropped it on the counter. 

“Easy fix.” Denise said with a sad, gentle smile. 

Hannah turned to look at Daryl and brought her hand to hold his cheek to give him a warm kiss, exhaustion pulling at every muscle in her body. 

“I’ll be right back.” She whispered, looking at him and giving him a tired smile when he gave her small nod. 

Hannah walked over to where Michonne stood next to the door with Judith in her arms and rubbed at Judith’s back, smiling playfully at her before she looked up at Michonne and the expression of heartbroken worry painted on her face. 

“Is Rick in there with him?” Hannah asked, pointing behind her shoulder at the room Carl had been taken to late the night before after she’d heard he’d been shot. Michonne said nothing in return and instead simply nodded her head, kissing Judith’s cheek and holding her closer. Hannah gave Judith another smile and combed her fingers through her soft, light brown hair before turning toward the door and letting herself in. 

Rick stood against the wall holding his forehead in his hand with his eyes closed. His other hand was bandaged and bloody while he held it on his hip, his head clearly full of too many thoughts to process for what he had nearly lost. Carl lay unconscious on the bed in front of them and Hannah walked over to Rick, bringing her hand to hold his arm if only to prove she was standing there with him. 

“Whatever you’re thinking, you should be proud of what you’ve done.” Hannah finally said, watching him lean back against the wall and sweep his hair back. “What you’ve inspired this group to become. You should be proud.” 

“Jessie and Ron and Sam are dead.” He said quietly, the look on his face nearly bringing tears to her eyes.

“Michonne told me. I know you cared about her… I’m so sorry.” 

“I don’t wanna be angry at Ron for this… but-”

“You’re right to be. Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean you can’t be.”

“Somethin’ just feels wrong about it.”

“It doesn’t change that he was going to kill him or you or both of you.” 

“… I didn’t think this group… that they could do what we just did.” Rick said after a long pause, sitting down on the chair next to his son. 

“Maybe they just needed you to show them how. Be proud of what you’ve done, Rick. I am. Daryl is. Everyone is.”

Rick looked up at her and gave her a sad, weak smile, leaning down to rest his elbows on the tops of his legs. The door opened behind Hannah and she turned around to see Daryl peaking inside, nodding his head back to the main room without a word. 

“We love you Rick. Be angry if you need to. But be proud… this is just the beginning.” Hannah added, before taking Daryl’s hand and following him back out to the kitchen. He led her back to the same counter he’d been sitting on and helped her up, standing between her legs and holding his hands on her thighs as Denise started to sew the edges of her wound together. 

“You got a good head on your shoulders, you know that.” Daryl said softly, leaning his forehead against Hannah’s. 

“So do you.” She returned, looking up at him. “What you did yesterday…” Hannah added, her words trailing off just as Denise hit a nerve. Denise apologized and continued to work, closing up the cut a short while later and handing her a handful of bandages. 

“Use these to clean them up but don’t cover them. They need to breathe.” Denise said as Hannah hopped off of the counter. 

“I’ve already got some in my foot. I think I can manage that.”

“In your foot?” 

“Bear trap caught me right before we got here.”

“Probably ‘bout ready to be out.” Daryl said, his hand finding the small of her back and leading her toward the door. 

“Well let me know when you’re ready. I’ll get those taken care of.” 

Hannah gave her a warm smile of thanks and the both of them walked back outside for the first time since the group had taken Alexandria back from the dead, bodies laying in tall piles everywhere she looked. 

“Daryl.” Hannah said, her words hardly more than a whisper. “Take me home. Please.” 

Daryl took her hand in his and pulled her in to his body, wrapping his arm around her neck and they started toward the house they called home, stepping over and around the dead walkers laying haphazardly across the ground. 

The house was still and silent as they slowly heaved themselves up the stairs, their tired bodies hardly able to stay standing any longer when the door to their bedroom closed softly behind them. Hannah walked up to him and unbuckled his belt and pants, helping him out of his clothes before he did the same with her and wrapped his arms around her, keeping her naked body close to his own and tucking his face into the curve of her neck. 

“Thank you.” Hannah finally said, pulling away from him just enough to look up at him. 

“For what?”

“Doing everything you’ve done. For fighting… for letting me love you. For loving me back. Everything.” 

The expression on Daryl’s face said everything when he looked back at her. Every last word she needed to hear after the unprecedented two days they’d just struggled through, he had said in one look of tired yet unmistakable love and gratitude. True she had been with him through all of it, that she had helped him just as he had helped her. But somehow she still felt like she owed him more than anything, to prove to him he would always be her savior. 

“Rain check on the reward ceremony I promised.” She said with tired smile, rubbing her hands up and down his bare back. “Right now I just want a shower and sleep.” 

Daryl moved in to kiss her long and hard, squeezing her ass in both hands before he turned her around to follow her into the bathroom and turn on the water. Steam filled the glass walls of the shower and the both of them stepped inside, holding onto one another for long while as they savored the feeling of the hot water beating on their backs and refreshing their skin.   
Hannah reached behind him and grabbed a bar of soap, carefully helping him wash the dirt and dried blood from his back and arms and trying to avoid the various cuts and scrapes on his skin. She continued with washing his hair before she did the same with her own, loving the feel of him hugging her from behind and kissing along her shoulder. Hannah turned around in his arms and pulled his face to hers for another long, deep kiss, never wanting this moment to end despite how exhausted she knew they both were. Daryl reached behind her a moment later and turned off the water before she stepped out of the shower, handing him a towel as she dried her hair with her own. He did the same and abandoned it on the bathroom floor, grabbing her hand and leading her back out into the bedroom to lay her down on the bed to climb up on top of her, the air thick with their need for one another. 

“No rain check. Don’t wanna wait.” He said quietly in her ear as he kissed along her jaw and finally pressed his lips to hers. Hannah kissed him back, opening her legs to him and bringing her hands to hold on either side of his neck as he wasted no time, filling her completely and leaning down into her body with his arms on either side of her.

“God damn, I needed this.” Daryl breathed, his hips moving in swift waves with Hannah’s as he kissed the curve of her neck and held onto her breast, teasing her nipple between his fingers. 

“Fuck yes, me too, baby." Hannah returned, the need in her voice matching Daryl’s as she brought her ankles to link together behind him. Light moans escaped from Hannah's throat and she kissed along the side of Daryl's face, breathing his name into his ear along with words of need, begging him to move faster. 

Daryl's voice left him in short, harsh grunts until he quickly pulled out of her and grabbed her hips to flip her over onto her stomach. Hannah moved to offer herself to him and hissed at the feel of his hands moving across her ass to hold onto her hips again before his tip pressed into her entrance again and filled every inch of her she could give him. 

“Holy shit, Dar-“ Hannah struggled to say, leaning down into her pillow and moaning harder the deeper he pushed. “Oh my go-“ 

“Fuckin’ a girl, just like that.” Daryl growled, reaching one of his hands to hold her shoulder and fucking even harder behind her. 

The sound of their movement filled the space as their skin made contact and started to glisten, the bed beneath them creaking and rocking into the wall. Daryl's other hand moved smoothly around her side and between her legs, his fingers finding her clit and throwing her senses into a tailspin. 

“Fuck, Dar- oh m- I’m gonna come.” Hannah whimpered, looking back at him and struggling to catch her breath. Heat swept through every fiber of her body and Hannah collapsed into the blankets, her moans loud yet muffled and her lungs begging her for air the deeper he pushed. 

With all the strength she could muster, Hannah tightened her walls around him, cum leaking out of her soaking core the harder and faster Daryl thrusted inside of her, his own moans matching hers until he quickly pulled out of her. Sweat dripped down the side of his face as Hannah flipped over on her back and he moved toward her face, his hand finding her cheek when she opened her mouth and looked up at him. 

“Give me all of it.” She begged, swatting his hand away and wrapping her own around him to stroke him hard and fast, tasting her sweet fluid all over him when she took him in her mouth. Daryl let his head fall back and he moaned hard again, the hard muscles of his stomach flexing beneath her fingertips the more she moved and sucked along him. He started to move his hips into her mouth and Hannah gagged hard on him, her reflex vibrating on his tip until he looked down at her and pulled himself away, holding his cock in his hand just before he came hard all over Hannah’s tongue. 

Catching her breath, Hannah wrapped her lips around him again and moved in slow strokes, Daryl’s cum falling in slow drips down her chin. Daryl brought his hand to hold her cheek again and wiped his cum off of her cheek just as she swallowed hard, taking his finger between her lips and sucking on him. Out of breath himself, Daryl moved over to collapse in bed, pulling Hannah up to lay with him and holding her close, kissing her temple as she brought her hand to hold on his chest. 

“Hell of a night.” Hannah finally said after a long, calm silence. 

“Hell of a two days.” 

“Think I might sleep for a few days straight.” 

“Long as I can with ya.” 

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Hannah smiled, looking up at him. “We’re gonna have to hit the ground running once we’re up though.”

“Damn mess out there. Too much shit to clean up.” 

“Deanna’s dead. Maggie told me she got bit and told everyone to leave her alone.”

“When’d that happen?”

“I don’t know. While we were out… I guess they went back to the room she shut herself in and she was gone. So who knows.”

“She probably got out last night. Maybe somebody got her.”

“Too bad for Spencer. I’d assume being the one to put down your own parent would be more ideal than anyone else doing it.”

“Who knows with that guy… not sure I can trust ‘em as far as I can throw ‘em.” 

“I've heard he's got some authority issues with Rick.”

“Mm. So’ve I.” 

“And I can’t quite wrap my head around how fucking cool it was what you did with that launcher. Twice in a day? Fuck.” Hannah laughed, pinching his side. 

“You liked that, huh?” Daryl asked, laughing with her and moving his hand along the side of her arm. 

“God, yes. I can’t really… shit, it was just… wow. Fucking hot.” She said, blushing while he watched her and kissed her cheek. 

A calm silence fell between them and they both fell into a deep, well deserved sleep, neither of them sure what the following days would hold other than the fierce conviction of rebuilding the place they called home.


	26. Chapter 26

“Hey, have you seen Daryl and Rick yet?” Hannah asked, running up to Maggie as she worked in the new plots she’d been digging for growing crops and vegetables. “I know they left this morning, but they’ve been doing runs for weeks now and it’s never been this late before they got back.”

“No, I haven’t. You ask Denise yet?”

“No… I figured with you closer to the gate you’d have seen them come back.” 

“No, not yet. I’m sure they’re fine. Probably just ran into car trouble.” 

“Hopefully that’s it.” Hannah said, crossing her arms under her arms. “How’re the seeds doing so far?”

“Could be better. Nothing’s cropped up just yet… just needs time, I guess.”

“They’ll grow.”

“How’re the walls coming along?”

“So far so good. Tobin and his guys have been getting them up pretty fast, so I think we’re making good progress. We finally got all the bodies out, too. Sent Spencer out with a few others to burn ‘em. Hopefully it’ll start smelling better around here in the next day or so.”

“Good. Mornin’ sickness is killin’ me these days.”

“You feel okay otherwise?”

“So far, yeah. Everything seems good. Just nauseous a lot. Heard you’re thinkin’ about moving to a different house with Daryl?”

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it. We moved to a room downstairs, but...” Hannah smiled, nodding her head and missing him again. “It’d be nice to have a bit more privacy. Not have to uh… you know, be quiet. With Judith and Carl being in the house, we have to… practice some restraint.”

Maggie laughed and paused to lean against the garden hoe she’d been using, holding her hand on her hip, nodding her head in understanding. 

“I don’t mean to overshare.” Hannah joked, feeling herself blush. “But, I’m sure you get it.” 

“I do.” She said, sweeping her hair out of her face. “I’m glad to see you guys happy the way you are.” 

Hannah nodded and gave her a shy smile, looking down at the dirt and absently messing with a rope tied around three pieces of PVC pipe. 

“Alright, well, it’s startin’ to get dark, don’t work too late.” Hannah said, turning to leave after a long pause. Maggie smiled and waved her goodbye and Hannah walked away, heading toward the infirmary where Denise and Tara now lived to see if either of them had seen Rick and Daryl come back yet. 

But just as she rounded the corner down the street from the infirmary, car lights turned onto the street and a white SUV with Rick behind the wheel passed her, parking just in front of Denise and Tara’s house. Daryl and Rick both got out of the car and heaved another man in a long black coat and stocking cap out of the back seat, moving to carry him up the steps. Hannah ran over to catch up with them and up the steps just behind Daryl, holding her hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey.” She said, out of breath and looking down at the man the two of them carried just as Rick knocked on the front door. “Who the hell is this?”

“Some prick from outside.” Daryl said, his voice strained while Hannah was completely distracted by the toned, hard muscles of his arms. The light on the porch came on and Denise and Tara both showed up when the door opened, both of them in pajamas. 

“Who is this?” Denise asked, her hair messy from sleep. 

“C’mon man, he’s heavy.” Daryl said, adjusting his arms underneath the stranger's. “Oh that, that thing didn’t work out. It’s this asshole’s fault, sorry.” 

“Ok, lay him on the bed.”

“Take a look at him, he ain’t staying though.” He grunted, struggling to carry his weight into the house. 

“Right, but what happened?” She asked, grabbing a pen light and opening the man’s eyes to check his pupils. 

“Hard hit to the head. Passed the fuck out from that ‘an ain’t woke up since.”

“Did he throw up at all?”

“Just told you, he ain’t been up since.”

“Doesn’t quite mean he can’t throw up.” 

“Nah, he hasn’t.” 

“We’ll take him to the empty house next door when you’re done, we don’t want him in here with you by yourselves.” Rick said, standing to the side with his hands on his hips.

“I’m sure we could manage, but if that’s what you want, that works for me… He's definitely got a concussion. Just needs time to shake it.” Denise said after taking a look at him and feeling for any other cuts or bruises that might be concerning. 

“You said he’s why you didn’t come back with anything?” Hannah asked, disappointed to not have the deodorant she’d asked for after using baby powder for weeks. 

“Asshole tried to steal the truck we found. All kinds ‘a food and supplies in it. We got the jump on ‘em and tied him up and left ‘em. Guy somehow hitched on the truck so we tried to fight ‘em, truck got shifted outta gear and rolled into a lake.”

“Jesus. You get a name or anything out of him?” Hannah asked, sneering down at the man passed out on the bed. 

“That's what’s funny. Ain’t his real name, but the guy said people call him ‘Jesus’.” Daryl said, stifling a half laugh. 

“Jesus?” Hannah said sarcastically, raising one of her eyebrows as she looked down at him, seeing the resemblance with his long hair and full trimmed beard. “Good god.” 

“Can’t make that up, look at ‘em.” Daryl added, waving his hand toward him and stepping up to stand behind her, his hand holding her hip as he kissed the back of her head. 

“Guess so.” 

“He good?” Rick asked Denise as she stood back and leaned against the counter. 

“He should be. I don’t see anything alarming.” 

“Alright, Daryl, let’s get him outta here.” Rick said, nodding toward Jesus and watching Hannah help him lift his dead weight from the bed. Daryl nodded toward the door and she let them out, taking one of Jesus’s arms to help. 

The three of them nearly dropped him on the flat pad that laid on the floor very similar to the one that Rick had used after his fight with Pete and Hannah stepped away, grabbing a plastic cup and filling it with water before she handed it to Daryl to leave by his side. 

“You comin’ home with me?” She asked as Daryl stood up and watched the man sleep, leaning against the doorway as Rick knelt down and left the man a note. 

“Nah. I’ll stay and watch ’til someone else can.” Daryl answered as Hannah walked up and wrapped her arms around him from the side, his hand moving down her back to rest at the curve of her waist. She watched Rick as he looked from Jesus to her and Daryl and back again, his resolve of the situation almost promising. 

“We’ll see.” He said, answering a question neither of them had asked out loud before he stood up and walked toward the door. “It is pretty stupid of us to go out there.” 

“Yep.” Daryl said, leading Hannah toward the door behind Rick. “Do it again tomorrow?”

“Yep.” 

“Good night, Rick.” Hannah said, waving her goodbye to him as he did the same. 

“You don’t gotta stay.” Daryl said softly, turning to look at her. 

“No, I want to. Better to keep you company than be bored out of my mind at home.” 

“Won’t hear me complain.” 

“Didn’t think so.” Hannah smiled as they sat down on the steps right outside the door. 

“Miss anything interesting while I was out there?”

“No. Absolutely nothing… Although, I think Abraham and Sasha have a thing.”

“Thing?”

“You know… they like each other?”

“Thought he was with Rosita?”

“That’s the tricky part. I don’t know, really. I see them together a lot. Just an observation.” 

“They’ll figure it out.” Daryl said, bringing his arm around her as she rest her head on his shoulder. 

“They’ll have to.” Hannah added, moving her hand slowly up and down his back and crossing one leg over the other. A calm silence fell between them and Hannah nearly fell asleep, her hand tucked into the back of his jeans before she sat back up and looked at him. “Why wouldn’t you want him to stay?” She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

“Guy tried to take all the shit we found. Tricked us and stole that truck.”

“Does Rick feel differently? He said ‘we’ll see’…” 

“He tried to ask ‘em the questions. Startin’ to think he was right to begin with when we got here. Let people survive on their own. Like we did.”

“What changed your mind?” 

“All that shit with that prick Dwight… gave people a chance with them. Just can’t do it no more… ‘specially with this asshole pullin’ the shit he did. You shoulda seen how much food and shit was in the back ‘a that truck…” 

“Would you have just left him out there like that?”

“Wanted to… Rick wouldn’t.”

“Seems like the tables have turned a little bit between you two.” 

“Guess so.”

“I see why you changed your mind… I get it.” Hannah offered, taking his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together. “But I guess we’ll have to wait and see with him.” 

“We’ll see. Ain’t the one callin’ the shots so maybe he’s gotta point ‘an I just don’t see it yet.”

“Or maybe he learned something from you… that maybe there are still decent people out there.” 

Daryl nodded and looked down at the steps beneath him, the fingers on his other hand fidgeting before Hannah sat back up straight and watched him. She combed her fingers through his hair still damp with sweat, listening to his stomach growl. 

“I’ll go get you something to eat.” She said quietly in his ear, kissing his cheek before she stood up. Daryl gave her playful pat on the ass and Hannah winked at him, turning around the corner and making her way back to the house. 

She let herself in the door to the kitchen to find the house quiet, a soft light coming from the living room to her left just as a soft giggle came from the same direction.

“Oh shit.” Hannah said, louder than she’d intended at the sight of Rick and Michonne on the couch, caught in a slow, deep kiss. Rick broke away from Michonne's lips and looked up at Hannah, clearly as surprised as she was to see her standing there like a deer in headlights. “I… uh… don’t… pretend I’m not here.” She stammered, holding her hands out in some strange way of trying to shield away the horrendous feeling of awkwardness she felt. 

“It’s okay.” Rick said, sitting up slightly. “It’s only fair.” He added as Hannah stepped around the counter to open the refrigerator and grab a container of pasta she’d made earlier in the day. 

“Fair?” Michonne asked, looking back at Hannah when she pulled open a drawer and picked up a fork and turned for the door. 

“I uh… walked in on her and Daryl a few weeks back.” Rick laughed nervously while Hannah reached for the door knob. 

“You guys uh… you guys have fun.” Hannah joked, giving them a playful wink and quickly making her exit and letting go of a big sigh of relief. Turning back down the street and making her way back to where Daryl still sat on the steps of the house next to the infirmary, leaning back on his hands and absently moving his knees back and forth. 

“Sorry it’s cold.” She said, sitting back down with him and handing him the container. 

“Food’s food. ‘An after a day like this one, I ain’t complainin’. ” Daryl said, leaning in and kissing her cheek. 

“Rick and Michonne were makin’ out pretty hard when I walked in… did he say anything to you about that?”

“Ain’t said shit to me.”

“Guess I took a page outta his book walking in like that… except I was way more awkward than he’s ever been.” 

“Leave it to you, the smoothest girl I fuckin’ know, to be awkward when you’re the one walkin’ in on someone.” 

“Strange, I know.” Hannah joked, crossing her leg over the other again and rolling up her pant leg and slipping off her boot. 

“Looks good.” Daryl said right after swallowing a bite, nodding toward the scars on her foot that were starting to itch. 

“Back to a hundred percent now. These scars look pretty wicked though… and they itch like fucking crazy.” 

“Yeah, well leave ‘em be.” 

“Don't get all bossy with me.” Hannah teased, playfully shoving his shoulder and stealing a bite of his food. 

"Don't steal my food, then." He said, digging one of his hands into her side to tickle just below her ribs. 

"I made it, so technically it's mine."

“Fuck that.” Daryl laughed, taking his last bite and setting the container down next to him. 

Hannah took a long, easy breath and looked back at the door, out toward the street and back at Daryl, wondering what would come next with a person like this guy Jesus around - or even if he intended on staying. The way Rick had acted was almost as if he’d planned on keeping him around, but with Daryl not so sure, Hannah couldn’t bring herself to be totally on board either. She’d seen him make the mistake of trusting a stranger’s character before and it almost got the both of them killed. Perhaps Daryl was right to be a little more than cautious. 

“Hey.” Tobin said suddenly, breaking Hannah away from her thoughts as he casually walked up to the bottom of the steps. 

“Guy’s passed out. Just keep an eye and ear out for him to wake up.” Daryl said as he nodded toward the door. 

“Goes by Jesus if he wakes up.” Hannah added, standing up and walking down to the sidewalk just before Daryl joined her and brought his hand to hold at the small of her back. 

“Jesus?”

“Once you get a look at him, you’ll get it.” Hannah joked, waving her goodbye and turning to leave. Daryl’s hand took hers and they slowly walked toward home, the air cool with a nice gentle breeze. They stopped to sit down on the steps up to the house and Hannah leaned against his shoulder, looping her arm with his and closing her eyes, thankful to have him home. “You really need to go back out there tomorrow?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Came back with nothin’ but that asshole back there and a headache.” 

“I’d like to go with you.” 

“Nah. You ain’t goin’ out there if you don’t have to.”

“Seems like you guys could’ve used another person out there. From what you said-“

“We handled it. Got back-“

“But did you? Like you said, you came back empty handed. Maybe if you had had an extra set of eyes and hands you might not have. Why make the same mistake again?”

“Because you don’t gotta put yourself out there like that, Hannah.”

“Daryl, stop with the overprotective bullshit. Please. I don’t need to be cooped up like some fragile piece of glass. My foot is fine, the cuts are healed. I’m at 100% and I’m a good shot. And I WANT to help you.” Hannah went on, almost pleading her case out of annoyance of constantly being kept behind walls. 

“Fine.” Daryl said simply, giving up the argument he was already losing. 

“Don’t be like that.” Hannah complained, pushing his shoulder playfully. “You know as well as I do we make a good team… Plus you’re good to look at.” She teased, pinching his side. 

“Stop.” He blushed, looking away from her. 

“Especially when you’re all hot and sweaty…” 

“Stop.” He said with a shy smile, his eyes glued to the step below him. Hannah shook his arm a little bit and leaned in to kiss him, standing up and pulling him with her up the steps. 

Daryl followed her into the house and down the hall, both of them listening carefully before Hannah heard the tell tale sounds of a creaking bed and soft, breathy moans coming from Rick’s bedroom upstairs. She smiled to herself and looked back at Daryl as he shook his head and gave in to a small, knowing smile himself. Hannah pulled him with her again and their door closed, it’s latch clicking softly before she pulled off her clothes and climbed beneath the covers of their bed. 

“Why do I get the sense that’s been a long time coming?” Hannah asked, watching Daryl do the same before he joined her in bed. 

“‘Cause it has been.” He answered, turning onto his side and pulling her waist into his body. 

“Well good. We can’t be only ones gettin’ lucky around here.” She laughed, goose bumps moving across her skin as Daryl’s hand took hers and laced their fingers together. 

“True… but I’m luckiest one… I don’t give a shit what other people think.” Daryl said sweetly in her ear, kissing just behind it before Hannah turned to kiss him back. 

“I love you.” She whispered, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Love you.” He whispered back, kissing her again before she turned over onto her other side to face him and curled into his body. Hannah closed her eyes and kissed along his collar bone, relaxing into the bed they’d made their own and loving every last mili-second of it. Sleep came to both of them quickly and easily, their bodies tangled together just as they always did and just as Hannah dreamed they’d be until her very last dying breath.


	27. Chapter 27

The early morning hours came swiftly as Hannah and Daryl slept, the sun rising slowly in the east and filtering in through the window. Hannah’s eyes fluttered open and she laid there quietly, wrapped in Daryl’s arms with their legs tangled together and their breathing slow and relaxed. But the slight sound of what could have been a window opening caught her attention and she leaned up on her elbow to listen more carefully, a slight sense of panic settling in her gut at the sound of footsteps walking down the hall. 

“Daryl.” She hissed, shaking his shoulder to try and wake him when the footsteps grew louder “DARYL!.” She hissed again just before he groaned and opened his eyes. “Someone’s in the house!”

“Huh?” 

“Someone’s in the house! I heard a window open and someone walking up the stairs.” She whispered, pulling herself from the sheets. Daryl flew from the bed and pulled on his clothes faster than she’d ever seen him, grabbing a gun from the bedside table before he stormed out the door. Voices echoed down the stairwell from Rick’s room and Hannah scrambled to put on her clothes, running down the hallway and up the stairs to see the man she only knew as Jesus sitting on the steps with five guns held up to him from Daryl, Glenn, Abraham, Maggie and Carl. 

“It’s okay.” Michonne said, catching everyone’s attention and holding her hand up.

“You said we should talk.” Rick said to Jesus, Daryl and Glenn still holding their guns up while Abraham and Maggie dropped theirs. “So let’s talk.” Hannah just stood and watched the scene in front of her, still trying to wake herself up enough to put together what was actually happening. Jesus looked down the stairs at the five people below him, the expression on his face one that didn’t seem threatening in the slightest. He looked directly at her and stood up, walking slowly down the stairs as he followed Daryl and Abraham into the kitchen to sit down at the dining table. 

“How’d you get here so fast?” Hannah whispered to Glenn as everyone gathered around the table. 

“Tobin came by a few minutes ago and told us he found him gone when he walked in to check on him. We came running when he showed me the note Rick left him.”

“I was out patrollin’. Thought I’d catch the excitement myself.” Abraham added, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Hannah nodded and took a seat next to Michonne while she watched Daryl pace behind where Jesus had sat down at the end of the table, looking over at her and then to Rick. 

“So how’d you get out?” Rick finally asked, sitting back to listen. 

“One guard can’t cover two exits. Or third floor windows. Knots untie, locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?” Jesus explained, almost casually while Daryl walked around behind him to stand to his left.

“Right.” Daryl said, visibly irritated and disheveled from having to wake up and dress at a second’s notice.

“I checked out your arsenal.” Jesus continued, still under Daryl’s watchful eye. “Haven’t seen anything like that in a long time… you’re well equipped. But your provisions are low. Very low for the amount of people you have. Fifty four?”

“More than that.” Maggie chimed in from across the table, her arms crossed just under her chest. Hannah nodded in agreement and turned to look back at Jesus, starting to pick up on the direction he was going. 

“Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef.” 

“She ain’t here.” Daryl said, his voice nearly a growl and driving Hannah crazy as he stepped forward for the sunlight to catch in his painfully beautiful blue eyes. Jesus looked over at him and Hannah sat up, watching him turn toward Daryl to speak directly to him and feeling herself grow fiercely territorial for reasons she wasn’t quite sure of. 

“Look, we got off to a bad start. But we’re on the same side. The living side.” 

“That's a bit of an idealistic view, isn’t it?” Hannah argued, standing up and crossing her arms under her chest. “Everyone could say that. Truth is there are bad people out there doing bad shit.”

“And I get that.” Jesus said, turning to look at her. “But ultimately, we’re all playing the same game. Surviving. Trying to make it. ”

“That’s naive thinking, also. Not everyone is solely motivated on surviving and protecting what they have. People out there still get kicks out of hurting people. Killing them. Or just plain having power over them.” 

“I’m not saying your wrong. What I’m trying to get at is that I get why Rick and Daryl did what they did. Because I was doing the same.” He continued, turning to look back at Daryl. “You and Rick had every reason to leave me out there. But you didn’t. I’m from a place that’s a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with… I took your truck because my community needs things. And both of you looked like trouble… I was wrong. You’re good people. And this is a good place. I think our communities may be in a position to help each other.” 

“Do you have food?” Glenn asked from across the table, his gun still sitting in his hand. 

“We started to raise livestock. We scavenge. We grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorgum.” 

“Tell us why we should believe you.” Rick finally said, his expression cautious. 

“I’ll show you. We take a car, I can take you back home in a day. And you can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer.” Jesus continued, looking more hopeful with each passing second. 

“Wait, you’re looking for more settlements…” Maggie said, leaning forward at her piqued interest. “You mean you’re already trading with other groups?” 

Jesus sat back and gave everyone a knowing smile, looking casually from person to person before he finally spoke, his words full of purpose and an air of excitement that wasn’t all that common any more. 

“Your world is about to get a whole lot bigger.” 

His words rang in the air for a moment while everyone took in what he’d had to say, no one really sure how to respond before Hannah finally had to guts to say anything. 

“Before we decide to do this, how do we know your community is safe? Do you have walls? If we do this, just what would we be getting ourselves into?” Hannah asked, watching him carefully.

“We’re very secure. We have walls, very much like yours here at Alexandria. Only one way in or out, so we know exactly who comes in and who goes out. Twenty four hour watch posts.” 

“And what kind of people would we be dealing with? Just because you can keep track of who comes and goes doesn’t mean those people are trustworthy with our safety.” 

“Like any group we have our village idiots and a few that are less than friendly. But overall we have a good group. Smart, loyal, and capable. Much like everyone I see here.” 

Hannah bit at her bottom lip and Daryl gave her short nod of his head, both of them then looking over to Rick to see what his response to any of this might be. 

“Hearin’ all this is… strange to think about.” He finally said after another long pause, looking over at Michonne and up at Hannah. “But maybe we oughta see what’s out there.” 

“If anything…” She started, unfolding her arms and stepping toward where Daryl still stood. “We could at least work out some kind of understanding, in case we’re in their area or they’re in ours, we can be safe harbors. Like the sign says outside.” Hannah suggested, stopping just beside Daryl when he picked himself up to stand up straight from the wall. 

“Let’s get the RV rolling, then.” Rick said, looking at each person before standing up and holstering his gun. 

Everyone filed out of the house and scattered to their houses to gather whatever weapons or supplies they might need before eventually finding their way back. Hannah and Daryl both snuck back into their bedroom to get themselves fully dressed, grabbing their knives and guns and heading back outside. The RV sat just across the street and Daryl made a straight shot for the front of it, opening the creaky hood to check the engine, battery and oil to ensure that they would make it to where ever Jesus directed them. Hannah stood just to the side leaning against the front of the RV while she absently watched Daryl work until Denise walked around him and offered each of them a plastic ziplock bag with a brown mound inside. 

“Here, homemade oak cakes. Complex carbohydrates, omega-3s.”

“Nah. I’m good. We’ll make a pit stop, I’ll pick up somethin’ then.”

“Yeah, I might have to take a hard pass on this too.” Hannah said, not sure what to make of what looked like a lump of shit in a bag. 

“Like rabies?” 

“That’s rude.” Hannah said, huffing a playful laugh while Daryl gave her a small glance from under the hood. 

“Is this ‘cause I tried to get you that stuff?” He asked, taking a step back.

“Yeah… and you remind me of someone I used to know.” Denise answered, her words holding more meaning that Hannah would have expected as Daryl swiped the old red hand rag from Hannah’s hand. 

“Hm. Well I hope it tastes better’n it looks.” He said, taking the bag from Denise and shoving it in his pocket. “‘Cause it looks like shit.”

Hannah snorted a small laugh and took the other bag from Denise, tucking it in the inside pocket of her jacket while Denise gave Daryl an unamused look of annoyance. 

“Shit’s still better than roadkill… just eat it.” She said just before she walked away. 

“Let’s chew up some asphalt!” Abraham shouted from the side of the RV. 

Hannah laughed again and slipped her hand into one of Daryl’s back pockets, following him up the steps and inside the RV, hopping up on the counter in the tiny kitchen with Daryl just in front of her sitting between her legs in the booth next to the window. 

The gate opened and Rick directed the RV away from Alexandria, Jesus pointing the way from where he sat just behind Michonne in the passenger seat, the roads ahead nearly caked with old leaves with old cars flanking either side in various states of decay. The group remained quiet for a while and Hannah busied herself with rubbing Daryl’s shoulders, feeling the knots in his muscles slowly start to loosen while Abraham and Glenn spoke in near whispers just across from them. She stared off into space and forgot how long they'd been on the road, noticing Rick's hand holding onto Michonne’s before he slowed the RV down. 

“Hey Rick, what’s goin’ on?” Daryl asked after he sat up straight and lifted some of the slats of the blinds to his left. Hannah leaned down to look through the window, a set of black tire tracks stretching across the road just ahead of them leading to an overturned car with an engine still smoking and it’s wheels still turning. 

“We got a crash ahead. Looks like it just happened.” 

Everyone stood to look out the windshield and Rick slowed down to a stop, pulling over just next to the wrecked car and blood stained turn off before the look on Jesus’s face changed to one of worry. 

“It’s one of ours.” He said, his voice panicked as he rushed out the door and toward the car. 

The rest of them quickly followed him out, all of them grabbing their various weapons and keeping them ready as they looked at the carnage before them. Walkers were caught underneath the car that strained and struggled to grab desperately for the meals they craved, one of them even looped around a tire axel and hanging upside down with blood dripping from it’s severed arms and torn up torso caught in the twisting rotors of the ruined truck. Hannah held her gun cautiously at her side with her finger on the trigger just in case, Daryl grabbing for his own just next to her while the both of them watched Jesus walk to the side of the truck, worry and desperation clearly pushing him further into the throes of panic. 

“If this is a trick, it won’t end well for you.” Rick said with a quiet, level voice, holding his gun to Jesus’s head. 

“My people are in trouble. They don’t… we don’t have a lot of fighters. I know how it looks, but I’ll play it out. Can I borrow a gun?” Jesus asked, holding his hands out as a way to offer some sort of comfort to them. Daryl walked over to the road and carefully inspected the tracks on the road, looking out into whatever direction they pointed him to. 

“No. Got tracks right here.” He said to Rick, pointing at the road. Hannah jogged over and took a look for herself, not really seeing anything other than some old dried out grass in no particular pattern. 

“You can tell from that?” Hannah asked, feeling stupid for even asking, knowing he knew what he was doing. Daryl said nothing in return, instead pulling her closer to see from his perspective and pointing to a series of what looked like random impressions in the ground, taking Daryl's far superior word that they could be footsteps and nodding her head. He stood up straight and motioned for the group to cross the road to a building just ahead, everyone still holding tight to their weapons at the idea of a threat they might not see coming. Rick quietly stepped up to the glass door and gave it a few hits, holding his gun up and waiting for someone to answer. 

“They gotta be in there.” Jesus said, his tone hopeful. 

“We movin’ in or what?” Abraham asked, standing casually just behind Rick.

Getting restless, Daryl walked around behind Jesus and toward the door to the building, waving Hannah to follow behind him. 

“How do we know this ain’t firecrackers in the trashcan?” He asked, his voice nearly a growl. 

“You don’t.” Jesus said, giving up. 

“We’ll get your people. You’re stayin’ here, with one of us.” Rick said, looking directly at Jesus. 

“That’s the deal.” Michonne chimed in, holding the sword that she always carried. 

“You all go, just be careful.” Maggie said as Hannah watched Rick put Jesus in handcuffs and lead him away from the building. She stepped over to where Daryl stood to one side of the door, trying to peer inside. 

“Firecrackers in a trashcan?” She whispered, straining to see anything important. 

“It’s how he tricked us to steal that truck. Distracted us with ‘em behind a building.”

Hannah sneered and looked back to see Jesus standing just next to Maggie, her gun at the ready just in case he were to try to do anything. 

“Just hurry.” Jesus said, his expression worried and powerless as he watched the group move toward the building.

“You hear me whistle, you shoot him.” Rick said to Maggie, walking back toward the door and walking inside as Daryl waiting for everyone to follow him. 

“I will.” 

Hannah looked back at Maggie and gave her a knowing nod of her head before she stepped inside ahead of Daryl, his hand grazing her back to prove he was right there with her. 

The building was mostly quiet with the random raspy grown of walkers in various hallways the further the group moved into the building. Hannah followed Glenn with Daryl just behind her all three of them silent and focused on their surroundings, each of them listening carefully for any slight sound of movement that didn’t sound like it would come from the dead. She held her gun steadily ahead of her in one hand and her knife in the fist of the other, prepared to use either at a millisecond’s notice. 

Just as what should have been expected, a walker rushed out of a doorway to their right and Daryl immediately sprang to action, shoving the blade of his knife into it’s skull and leaving it in a heap on the floor just as Glenn did the same to another before they both stepped into another room. Hannah stood guard at the doorway, watching carefully down either side of the hallway until she heard voices and turned around. Glenn and Daryl stood watching a man with his hands held up, explaining that he was waiting on a friend of his that was hurt. They both pulled the stranger by an arm and lead him out the door, following Hannah back down from the direction they came, moving around Abraham who had found another one of Jesus’s men who could have only been the hurt one that the other had mentioned with his pail skin and near inability to stand up on his own. 

“C’mon man, let’s go! Hannah!” 

“Right behind you!” She shouted, running up behind him and following him back outside to make a straight shot back into the RV. 

The group quickly ushered the new people into the vehicle before Rick gave it a fierce start and turned the RV back onto the road, everyone still scrambling to find a place to sit. Hannah took her same place on the counter just behind Daryl, crossing her legs this time and holding her hand on his shoulder. She watched the landscape go by, stuck in her thoughts and in nothing at all, only wondering what kind of community Jesus might have come from. He’d seemed nice enough in the matter of hours she seen him conscious and talking, and, at least until now, hadn’t given her any reason to doubt his character. True it could have been the sense of innocence behind his bright blue eyes or maybe just the notion that he looked like the actual Jesus Christ, but Hannah refused to believe he was someone she couldn’t at least give a chance. Especially after he’d given every one of them reason enough to be deserving of one with giving them the opportunity to connect with his community. 

Before long, Hannah turned her attention back to the man she loved more than anything, moving her fingers through his hair on one side of his head just to pass the time. But with a sudden jolt and the sound of a tire lodged in something it shouldn't be lodged in screeching through the space, Hannah shot her head to look forward, annoyance pulling at every piece of her at their groups luck to get this far only to lose the only mode of transportation that could carry all of them at once. 

“Damn it.” Rick growled. “Storm must’ve passed through. We’re stuck.” 

“No worries. We’re here.” Jesus said, looking back at everyone after he glanced out the window. 

Hannah gave Daryl’s shoulder a warm squeeze and hopped down off of the counter after everyone stepped out of the RV and back outside, pulling him up with her before she leaned in close and kissed his cheek. 

“Like I said last night, we make a damn good team.” She said with a smile, pressing her forehead to the side of his face. 

“You don’t gotta gloat.” He said with playful sarcasm, bringing his hand to hold in the smooth curve of her waist. 

“When I’m proud of what we are together, I certainly fucking will.”


	28. Chapter 28

“That’s the Hill Top.” Jesus said proudly, looking up at a tall wall built with countless poles and trees at the top of a slight hill from where the RV sat. Hannah stood behind Daryl with her gun in hand as she gawked up at the impressive structure, following closely behind him when the group started toward it. Daryl had grabbed one of the large assault rifles the Sasha had packed for the trip and held it casually in one hand, driving Hannah’s body into a fit at the just the sight of him with something so powerful, especially after seeing what he had done with the rocket launcher weeks before. 

Hannah shook herself from her wanton distraction and continued up the hill toward the single gate before their group was stopped all of sudden by two men at the top of either side of the gate. 

“Stop right there!” One of them said while the both of them held up their spears. 

“You gon’ make us?!” Daryl shouted as their entire group aimed their guns up at the guards. 

“Wooaahhh.” Jesus said, turning around and holding his hands up to the group before turning back to his comrades. 

“Jesus, what the hell is this?” The other guard asked, squinting as he looked down at the group to get a better look at them. 

“Open the gates, Cal. Freddie’s hurt.” Jesus said, turning back toward the group, shaking his head in slight embarrassment. “Sorry about these guys, they get antsy standing up there all day doing nothing.”

“They give up their weapons, then we open the gate.” 

“Why don’t come down here an’ get ‘em.” Daryl threatened, aiming his weapon at the other guard as Hannah took a slight step forward. 

“Gentleman, look we vouch for these people. They saved us out there.” The doctor said, stepping out from behind Daryl. “Drop the spears.”

“Spears?” Hannah whispered, stepping forward along with Daryl to better her aim. “What kind of medieval shit is that?” She laughed to herself, hearing Daryl make a near silent snort at her humor while the both of them listened absently to Rick and Jesus before the gates finally opened. 

The group moved forward into the community that Jesus had endearingly called The Hill Top and Hannah looked carefully around them. Old wood and metal cabins and what looked like FEMA trailers lined the small area, a strange mix of old and new surrounding a massive brick colonial mansion making the small area almost look like some kind of walled in micro-plantation without the fields, instead replaced by a small garden plot and an area for livestock. People moved around the grounds tending to whatever duties they needed to tend to, all of them easily distracted by the strangers now standing just inside their gates gawking at the place they called home.

“There was a materials yard for a power company nearby, that’s how we put up the walls. Lot of people came from a FEMA camp. Trailers came with ‘em.” Jesus explained, sounding like he was some kind of museum guide.

“How did people find out about this place?” Michonne asked as the group came to a stop. 

“That’s called Barrington House.” Jesus went on, pointing at the giant brick mansion ahead. “Family that owned it gave it to the state in the thirties. The state turned it into a living history museum. Every elementary school within fifty miles used to come here for field trips.”

“The obvious choice everyone would choose when the apocalypse hit.” Hannah joked, hoping she hadn’t come across as snotty as she felt she had. 

“I know it sounds like an odd choice. But the place was running a long time before the modern world built up around it. I think people came here because they figured it would keep running after the modern world broke down.” 

Hannah raised an eyebrow at the sentiment laced with nostalgia she couldn’t relate to, realizing that at least the people here had something to hold onto. At least they had a small piece of hope that somehow he world could survive all of this. 

“Those windows up there let us see for miles in every direction. Perfect for security. Come on. I’ll show you inside.” Jesus continued, waving the group toward the stately mansion and opening the door to let them in. 

Just like a typical museum home, the interior of the building was full of old rich wood antiques and uncomfortable looking furniture, many of the miscellaneous pieces on the tables and walls looking like they could have been original to the building. Members of the group gawked at the lavish wallpaper and furniture before Jesus stepped further into the house, leading them into another room as he explained that most of the house had been turned into livable rooms for the members of his community. 

“People live here and the trailers?” Rick asked, holding his rifle casually as he looked around at the room himself. 

“We plan to build. There’s babies being born.” 

“How many people do you even have here?” Hannah asked, leaning back against a thick wood door frame, wishing the couches just behind Jesus didn’t look so God-awfully uncomfortable. But before Jesus could answer her question, a set of double doors opened to her left and just behind Daryl and an older man walked into the room, his expression less than welcoming when he laid eyes on their group after acknowledging Jesus’s return. 

“Everyone, this is Gregory. He keeps the trains running on time around here.” Jesus announced. Hannah looked over at the man standing in the double doorway with his hands planted on his hips and tucked into the suspenders he wore under his jacket, noting to herself that she already didn’t like him with his air of self importance. 

“I’m the boss.” Gregory said, his tone irritating on multiple levels. 

“I’m Rick. We have a community-“ 

“Why don’t you all get cleaned up.” Gregory interrupted, looking briefly at Daryl like he was pretending not to. Hannah sneered with disgust and nearly opened her mouth before Rick spoke first.

“We’re fine.” 

“Jesus’ll show you where you can get washed up. And you can come back down here when you’re ready.” Gregory went on, almost ignoring that Rick had even spoken. “It’s hard to keep this place clean.”

Rick nodded his head and muttered a quiet agreement, meanwhile Hannah just stood next to Daryl with her arms crossed in irritation at the audacity of someone being so blatantly rude to a group of people who held deadly weapons in their hands. Jesus invited the group upstairs to follow him to a series of rooms and bathrooms, giving all of them time to clean up as much as they were willing. Hannah took the opportunity to use the bathroom and used a damp washcloth to wipe off the dried sweat from her face and arms, refusing to get undressed in a strange place before she planted herself on the top of a dresser and waited for Daryl. 

“That guy down there’s got some kinda set of balls on him.” Hannah complained, watching Daryl walk out the bathroom door and walk over to her. “How much you wanna bet he’s never had to kill anything? Actually, better yet, how much would you bet that he’s never touched a gun?” 

“Shit, we’d both be rich.” Daryl grumbled, heaving himself up on the dresser right next to her. 

“Fucking rude… and surprisingly so given that all of us are carrying guns and his group doesn’t have any ammo to stop us.” 

“They can’t all be smart.”

“Apparently not.”

Hannah shook her head and brought her hand to run along Daryl’s back before she slid closer and he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. 

“You ready to head back down there?” She asked, holding her hand on his arm draped lazily around her neck. Daryl stared at the old Oriental rug on the floor and nodded his head slowly before Hannah hopped down and stepped between his legs, moving her hands smoothly along the outsides of his thighs. The need to distract herself from whatever waited downstairs was hard to ignore and Hannah leaned in close to kiss him, lost in the taste of his lips moving with hers and his tongue slipping into her mouth. 

“Mm. C’mon.” Daryl said, his voice deep and gritty when he broke away from her. “Sooner we get down there, soon we ain’t gotta deal with this prick.” 

Hannah gave him a small smile and he jumped down from the dresser, taking a handful of her ass and giving her a warm, playful squeeze before she walked toward the door and turned back toward the stairs. They both made their way back downstairs and Daryl walked over to one of the windows, turning toward Abraham when he took them both by slight surprise. 

“How long you think Rick an’ Michonne have been uggin’ bumplies?” He asked, sitting casually in a chair in the corner of the entryway. Hannah bit her tongue and gave a small snort as she tried not to laugh out loud, looking over from Abraham to Daryl. 

“Fairly certain that’s a new thing.” Hannah said, crossing her arms just under her chest and leaning against the wall while Daryl shrugged his shoulders in his response. 

“You ever think about it? Settlin’ down?” Abraham asked after he stood, looking from Daryl to Hannah and back, almost answering the question himself. 

“You think shit’s settled?” Daryl returned, walking away and stuck in his own head. Hannah watched him walk into the other room and looked over at Abraham, chewing on the inside of her cheek. 

“We can’t settle in this world, Abraham. Nothing is ever settled anymore.”

“Thought you two were dancin’ the midnight tango?”

“And we are. But when you say something like ‘settled’, the inference is that we’re safe. And no one is ever safe. We’ve done what we can, but we can’t fool ourselves into thinking anything is ever promised.” 

“That why he walked away?”

“I think so, yeah. He wants it… And we’ve both tried our hardest to get to that point. But ‘settled’ is not something any of us will ever be.” Hannah said sadly, wishing it weren’t so. She gave him a small, sad smile and walked away, leaving him in the entry way to go and try to find where Daryl had gone off to. She made her way slowly through the hallways of the old building before coming to a single white door at the back, looking out the window of it before opening the door and walking up behind Daryl and wrapping her arms around his waist. 

“I don’t think anything can be settled.” Hannah said in hardly a whisper. “Not now. Maybe not even ever.” 

“Too much shit’s too dangerous to think that way.”

“That’s what I told him.”   
Hannah turned to rest her cheek against Daryl’s back and held him, slowly moving one of her thumbs along his chest until he put his hand on top of hers and brought it up to kiss, his soft lips a contrast to the prickly hairs of his goatee. 

“But just ‘cause we can’t really be settled… don’t mean I don’t love you with all I got.” Daryl finally said, turning his head to look back at her from over his shoulder. Hannah moved to look up at him and gave him a small smile, squeezing her arms around him just to feel him even a little bit closer. 

“I love you with all I have, too.” She finally said, loosening her arms around him only for him to turn around and wrap his own around her. 

The two of them stood for several comforting moments, consumed in nothing but the feel of the other’s heart beating so close to their own before the back door to the building opened and Rick poked his head outside.

“Hannah, you up to goin’ in to talk to Gregory with Maggie?” He asked, opening the door further. "I think it'd be better that way."

"I can, yeah." Hannah answered, shrugging her shoulders at having to deal with the colossal dick that called himself 'the boss' of the Hill Top. "As much as I don't want to." 

"Maggie just went in there. Thinks she can work somethin' out for trade. Maybe get us some food, medicine. Think you oughta have a hand in that."

"She'll do much better with that task than I will, I'll tell you that now. The guy is a massive prick. And I think we all know I don't have much patience for that."

Rick gave a small laugh and nodded his head, looking down at his feet before opening the door for her. Daryl followed her inside with his fingers tucked into the top of her jeans and let her go just as she approached the same set of double doors Gregory had come out of. Hannah looked at them and squeezed her eyes shut, dreading having to deal with whatever kind of inflated ego this man would operate with. 

“Show him he ain’t shit.” Daryl whispered, giving the tender spot just under her ass a playful pinch. Hannah gave him a small smile and winked at him, finally reaching for the door handle and letting herself in just as Maggie stopped mid sentence to look back at her from where she sat in a chair across from Gregory. 

“Hi, sorry. Didn’t realize you’d already started.” Hannah said coolly, closing the door softly behind her and stepping toward them. 

“And who? Are you?” Gregory asked, standing up and offering her his hand. 

“Hannah.”

“And what do you do, Hannah? I assume you’re into the planting and crops with Maggie, here?”

“No, actually. I keep track of our wall expansion. Oversee security on our walls. I also have a stiff hand in any disputes we have. Internal or external.” She explained, crossing her arms and taking a seat in a chair next to Maggie, crossing her legs. “Maggie and I work pretty closely with everything. She’s a bit softer around the edges than I am, but we make a good team.”

“Maggie’s told me you have quite the community over there. Decent size, plenty of space for crops, weapons and ammunition.” 

“We do. We keep it pretty safe, I think. We’re in the middle of expanding our walls for more room.”

“For crops, right?”

“If we can work out a trade, yes. We’d like to get that started as soon as possible.” 

“We were just getting to that.” Maggie finally cut in, looking from Hannah to Gregory. “Gregory, we came here hoping to talk trade. Do you have enough here for that?”

“You see what I have here.” He said, the look on his face disgustingly condescending. “You see what I’ve built. Jesus said that your food situation was challenged right now. You don’t keep people fed, it comes apart… let’s speak the common tongue here. You don’t have shit. Now, I’m happy to help - I’m a nice guy. But we can’t just give things away for free…” 

“That’s not at all what we’re asking.” Hannah said, her voice sharper than she’d intended. “But where one of us has more than the other, surely we can help each other out.” 

“Well, how’s this… since you can’t offer much, I let your people work here for their share. You’d be a welcome addition to the community. Both of you. Smart. Beautiful women. Getting back to that common tongue, I’ll tell ya, I can make it worth your while.”

“Excuse me?” Hannah asked, rearing her head back just as Maggie leaned forward. 

“Let me stop you right there. STOP comin’ onto me, onto her, callin’ me ‘honey’. You don’t have ammunition.” 

“Who said that?”

“Does it matter? That very question proves it.” Hannah added, feeling her chest flush bright red with irritation. 

“You’re low on medication. You need things. We need things.” 

“You give us bottle of Aspirin, a box of bullets…” 

“Our communities can help each other.” 

“Thank you, Natalie, Karen. Been a good talk.” He said, his face irritated as he stood up.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Hannah growled as both she and Maggie stood up and walked over to the front of his desk. “We can help each other.” 

“She’s right.” Maggie agreed, leaning slightly over his desk. 

“We’re doin’ fine. Are you?”

Hannah took a step back and tried to reign in the agitation she could hardly control and looked over at Maggie, shaking her head before turning to let herself out of the room. She stopped at the doorway and looked over at the moron who had fooled himself into thinking he’d built something, choosing her words carefully before she opened her mouth, making sure to keep her tone as respectful and diplomatic as possible. 

“Gregory, just a word of advice. When you’re wanting to negotiate with a group that could help you, it’s advisable you remember their names and treat them like adults. Otherwise, you just come off as a coward and a prick… and being either of those things in a world like this only leads to trouble.” 

Hannah looked over at Maggie and gave her a small nod before she closed the door behind her and walked away, heading for the next room over where she heard Rick and Jesus’s quiet voices. 

“I thought you said we could help each other.” Hannah blurted as she walked up to them and waited for Jesus to answer. Maggie joined a moment later as she looked around, other members of the group slowly finding their own places to sit or stand.

“Let me guess-”

“Said we don’t have shit and then told us we’d have to work for our share when he knows we have ammunition. That’s not a trade… Which I’m starting to doubt he knows the definition of.”

“We want to generate trade. Gregory does. But ammo isn’t something we urgently need.”

“Well how’s that?” Rick asked, sitting on the arm of an antique arm chair with Daryl standing just behind him.

“How do you manage to protect yourselves without it? Spears? Really?” Hannah added, stepping over to sit on the same chair Rick was and watching as Daryl paced next to her. 

“The walls hold. We just brought in more medicine. Gregory wants the best deal possible.”

“Yeah? Well. We want things too.” Daryl said, his voice deep and gritty and immediately affecting Hannah as she crossed her legs. 

“We need food. We came all this way, we’re gonna get it.” 

“You brought us here under the guise we could help one another. We won’t leave empty handed… especially if that moronic piece of shit forgets my name one more time.” Hannah said, her voice sharp and nasty as she pointed in the general direction of Gregory’s office. 

“I will talk to him. And we will work this out… Circumstances change. We’re doing well now, and you will next. I will make him understand that… Can you give me a few days?” Jesus explained, pleading with everyone in the group. Hannah pressed her hands together and tucked them between her thighs, fighting herself to drop the attitude and at least give Jesus a chance to make something happen. 

“We can.” Michonne said from the corner. 

“Yeah.” Rick agreed quietly just before the front door burst open and another member of the Hill Top walked in slightly out of breath. Gregory made his own entrance a split second later and everyone stood up, looking at Gregory and back at the other person. 

“What’s wrong?” Gregory asked, noticing the worried look on the man’s face. 

“They’re back.” He said, giving nothing away before everyone moved to walk outside and down the hill to the gate. 

“Ethan. What happened to everybody else? Where’s Tim, Marsha?” Gregory asked as the group met three others halfway down the path. 

“How much you wanna bet those aren’t their real names?” Hannah complained in a sour whisper despite knowing no one had heard her, standing right behind Daryl. 

“They’re dead.” Ethan said, his eyebrows furrowed in the sun. 

“Negan?”

“Yeah.”

“We had a deal.”

“He said it wasn’t enough.” Another man from the group answered, holding his hand up to shield the sunlight. “Was the drop light?”

“No…” Gregory answered, his answer clearly not correct. 

“They still have Craig.” Another woman added. 

“Said they’d keep ‘em alive.” Ethan said, taking a small step toward Gregory. “Return him to us… if I delivered a message to you…” He continued, stepping even closer. 

“So tell me…” Gregory said just as Ethan brought his hand to his shoulder. Hannah squinted her eyes before she looked down at his hand and her eyes grew wide, only realizing what he was about to do until it was too late and the blade in his hand plunged into Gregory’s stomach. 

Gregory collapsed immediately and Rick charged after Ethan, harsh shouts coming from every direction before Hannah looked around, pulling out her knife and stopping in her tracks when she saw Rick on top of Ethan, throwing punch after punch. 

“RICK!” Hannah shouted, refusing to get any closer when someone else pulled him off. Ethan scrambled to his feet and another man went after Abraham, his hands clasped tight around Abraham’s throat. Daryl ran over and grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it back, his bones cracking in a nasty break before he ran off and screamed with pain. Both Hannah and Daryl offered their hands to Abraham and helped him up until even more shouts split through the air again. 

“HEY!” Glenn shouted, reaching for his gun.

“STAY BACK!” Ethan yelled. Hannah wheeled around again to see him back on top of Rick, holding a blade to his throat before Glenn and Michonne stopped in their tracks. “ANYBODY WHO TRIES TO STOP ME’S KILLING MY BROTHER!” 

Ethan looked angrily down at Rick, panting hard before looking back up at Michonne. 

“Drop it.” She said simply, her tone a warning before Hannah looked back down at Rick, her eyes growing wide at the sudden sight of blood splattering all over his face and neck as his own blade pierced Ethan’s carotid artery, instantly killing him. Rick tossed his lifeless body to the side and stood up while Hannah took a step back, slipping her gun out of it’s holster and handing it to Daryl who stood just behind her. Everyone remained quiet for a moment, trying to take in everything that had so quickly turned violent, something seemingly so simple that had ended in bloodshed. 

Members of the Hill Top looked at Rick standing in the middle of their small community with his beard stained red with another man’s blood, all of them judging the group that had come here with an intent to trade who had ended up killing one of their members. 

“You think Gregory’ll listen now?” Hannah said under her breath, never looking away from Rick as he turned around slowly to look at all of the people still watching him. 

Hannah canvassed everyone around the community and wondered if any of them had ever had to take a life. Or if any of them had even had to kill a walker. Trying to picture these people with weapons in their hands or blood on their skin was nearly impossible and Hannah chose to believe they’d been much like Alexandria - sheltered. Sheltered and weak, and as she looked at Rick doing the same thing as she was, she knew he’d come to the same conclusion when he uttered one simple, poignant question, his tone one that made it obvious that he was used to this kind of brutality, that he was strong in a world like this. 

“What?”


	29. Chapter 29

“He tried to kill Gregory and then me!” Rick said, pointing at the lifeless body of Ethan after another member of the run team shouted that he had been at fault. The woman of the team ran over in his direction and Hannah immediately went after her, missing her by a split second before the woman planted a hard punch to Rick’s bloody face. Michonne quickly knocked her onto the ground and Hannah slid to her knees, holding the blade of her knife to her throat and grabbing her face to look at her. 

“Touch another one of my people and I kill you. Right here in the dirt.” Hannah growled, the rage in her eyes almost uncontrollable as she tried to reign in the fierce instinct to protect everyone she cared about. 

“Drop it now!” Another random member of the Hill Top shouted, holding a spear and pointing toward where Michonne and Hannah were. Rick stalked toward him and past them, holding up his gun and pointing it directly at his face. 

“I don’t think I will.” He said, taking back control of the situation until Jesus ran up and cautiously stood between them, holding his hands out in an attempt to keep any of them from making a move on the other. 

“Everyone! This is over!” Jesus shouted, looking from one angry man to the next. Hannah shoved the woman’s face in the dirt and stood up, giving Michonne a nod of understanding as she turned to listen to what Jesus might have to say next. “It’s over… Ethan was our friend. But let’s not pretend he was anything more than a coward who attacked us. He did this. And these people stopped him.” 

“What can I do?” Rick asked, still holding his gun up, the tone in his voice more out of understanding and mild appreciation than anything else. 

“Put the gun away.” Jesus answered. “You’ve done enough.” 

Hannah slid her knife back into it’s sheath and looked over at Daryl, nodding her head as he tucked her gun into the back of his pants before turning back to focus her attention back on Jesus. Rick did as Jesus asked without hesitation and looked out among the community, his nerves visibly cooling from where they’d been just moments before. 

“You need to know, things aren’t as simple as they might seem.” Jesus continued as Rick turned to look directly at him. “Just give me some time.” 

Members of the Hill Top group dispersed and Hannah turned her attention back to Abraham who still laid on his back in the dirt, Daryl stepping toward as she did the same and knelt down to check he was alright. 

“Hey man, you good?” Daryl asked, looking down at him as Hannah turned his face from side to side to check him out.

“Can you breathe?” She added, her face covered in concern at the sight of his skin still bright red from lack of air. 

“Yeah.. I’m better’n alright.” He said, starting to laugh before Daryl offered his hand to him and pulled him up to his feet. 

“Alright, well, at least none of us wasn't seriously hurt.” Hannah griped, looking up at Daryl and slipping her fingers through one of his belt loops. 

“And they said they didn’t need ammo.” Daryl said quietly, turning to walk back toward the large brick house with Hannah walking along side him.

“Gregory’s a fucking imbecile. I don’t think any of them really thought about the fact we could kill all of them right now if we really wanted to… Not that we would… but they have no ammo. Bullets are faster than spears.” She whispered, trying not sound like she would suggest doing such a thing.

“You ain’t wrong.”

“I just mean… something like the situation that just happened should be a lesson in that. If we’d been anyone else, I don’t think it would have gone down quite the same.”

Daryl nodded with her and took her hand in his, leading her up the steps and back into building, following all of their group into the office where she and Maggie had tried to work with Gregory. The both of them walked over to the window and stayed close to one another, Daryl leaning against a bookshelf while Hannah did the same against the window sill with her fingers tucked into the back of his old jeans. Members of the group slowly made themselves as comfortable as they could in the unforgiving and ancient furniture, waiting for Jesus to come in and give them something to work with. 

After a while he finally walked in and looked at the group watching him, standing on his own in front of the rich wooden mantle before he finally spoke. 

“Dr. Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He’s in pain, but he’ll live.”

“So what happens now?” Michonne asked from where she sat just in front of Daryl and Hannah. 

“Things like that don’t usually happen here, but uh, it’s settled.”

“We heard the name ‘Negan’… A while back, Daryl and Hannah and them had a run in with his men… who is he?” Rick asked, stepping forward. Daryl stood to attention and listened carefully, Hannah joining him a second later as she thought back to the day when he’d blown them into tiny burning pieces on the road.

“Negan is the head of a group he calls the ‘Saviors’. As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss. They made a lot of demands. Even more threats. And he killed one of us… Rory. He was sixteen years old. He beat him to death. Right in front of us. Said we need to understand, right off the bat. Gregory’s not exactly good with confrontation. He’s not the leader I would have chosen, but, he helped make this place what it is, and the people like him.”

“He made the deal.” Maggie said, putting the pieces together as the group stood and carefully listened to Jesus explain what his group had been through. 

“Half of everything. Our supplies, our crops, our livestock. It goes to the Saviors.”

“What do you get in return?” Glenn asked, standing behind Michonne with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“So they don’t attack you, right?” Hannah offered, stepping forward and leaning against the back of an ugly antique love seat. 

“Yes, that’s right. But not just attack us… so they don’t kill us.”

“Why not just kill them?” Daryl asked after he paced back and forth a few small paces. Hannah nodded at his question and looked back over at Jesus, the look on his face growing somber. 

“Most of the people here don’t even know how to fight-“

“So even if you had ammo, it wouldn’t really even matter.” Hannah said, more thinking out loud than trying to contribute. 

“How many people does Negan have?” Rick chimed in again. 

“We don’t know. We’ve seen groups as big as twenty.”

“Hold up.” Daryl said as Hannah turned to watch him, the gears in his head clearly turning. “So they show up, they kill a kid an’ you give ‘em half of everything?” He asked, looking over at Hannah next to him. She gave him a small, proud nod and he continued, stepping forward as he offered even more of his insight. “These pricks just got a good story. Boogie man, he ain’t shit.”

“Well, how do you know?”

“A month ago we a took his guys out PDQ. Left ‘em in pieces and puddles.” 

“All it takes is some fire power and boom. Gone… And we’ve got it. We may not have a HUGE group, but the people we DO have can do… incredible things. We were out there a long time before we made it Alexandria. That sure as hell gives us an edge. Take into account the number of guns and rounds we have? We can do a lot with that.” Hannah said, looking from Jesus and over to Daryl, the feeling of knowing they were on the exact same page comforting and empowering. 

“Yo, we’ll do it. If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up? We want food, medicine and one a’ them cows.”

Hannah reached over and held his hand, giving him a warm squeeze with pride while Jesus looked carefully at the group, finally looking at Rick as if to get some kind of confirmation that this deal was something he was willing to go through with. 

“Confrontation’s never been somethin’ we’ve had trouble with.” He said coolly, looking straight at Jesus as if it were something he could have easily assumed. 

“I’ll take it to Gregory.” He said simply, leaving the room a moment later. 

“Did he mention at all what Gregory did before all of this? Like as a job? I have a hard time believing he did anything that required much much of a brain because if we didn’t prove we were capable outside just a while ago, I don’t know what will.” Hannah said out loud to no one in particular. 

“We’ll just have to wait and see.” Rick said, holding his hand at his forehead as he slowly stepped out of the room. Hannah shook her head and turned around to lean against the back of the small couch, crossing her arms under her chest and looking over at Daryl who stood scratching along the side of his mouth. 

“What do you think?” She asked quietly, taking his hand in hers. 

“I’m thinkin’ you got a hell of a bite to you, girl.” Daryl said, giving her a small nod of pride. 

“You know how I used to work for a hospital group before. I argued with patients, doctors and insurance companies for a living. I got good at it.” She joked, a smile full of disappointment at their situation pulling at her lips as she stood up and wrapped her arms around him. 

“And y’all don’t think you’re settled.” Abraham said in a snide comment from where he sat in the corner. 

“Abraham, we’ve been over this.” Hannah said, her tone and expression full of annoyance before she turned back to look at Daryl. “I gotta go get this straight with Maggie on how we’re gonna play this out. Come with me?”

“Nah, you go.”

“I love you.” She whispered, standing up on her tip toes and kissing him before slowly peeling herself from his arms and leaving the room. 

Hannah walked down the hallway and found a set of double doors that led to a balcony overlooking the Hill Top’s small fields of crops, letting herself outside and closing the door behind her as she joined Rick, Michonne, Maggie and Glenn. 

“You think this can work?” Hannah asked, leaning against the side of the building with her arms folding behind her back. 

“I hope so.” Michonne said, never looking away from whatever it was she was focusing on.

“We need to make it work.” Glenn added.

“The biggest problem we have is Gregory. If he’d focus on what we can do for them instead of what we’re asking for or how little we have, he would’ve agreed to this the second we brought it up.” Hannah explained, disappointed irritation starting to pull at her words.

“He seemed pretty bent on what we didn’t have… which I guess is just because he hadn’t seen what we can really do. I just don’t think he sees it… or if he ever will.” Maggie said. 

“That’s the thing too, though. We just showed him… maybe after that he’ll maybe use some deductive reasoning and logic and go with the smartest choice. To work with us.” Hannah added, staring out at the landscape ahead of them.

A long silence fell over the small group of them and they all looked out over the fields in the corner of the community, watching the group of men on the ground start a large bon fire. 

“They have food. We don’t.” Rick said, looking over at Michonne and back out at the fields where a group of men stood around a large fire, burning the body of who Hannah could only guess was Ethan. “We don’t have enough of anything. Except us. What we can do… This is the trade.” 

“It’s gonna cost us somethin'.” 

“It could cost us a lot. We could lose someone… or we could lose several someones… We just have to make it worth it for the ones that survive it.” Hannah offered, the words leaving a bitter, nasty taste in her mouth at the idea of losing any of the people she called her family. 

A moment later Jesus walked out onto the balcony and looked at everyone, seemingly sensing the heaviness of a difficult conversation before he spoke. 

“Gregory’s up. He wants to talk…” He said, holding up his hand when Rick started toward the door. “To Maggie. He wants to talk to Maggie.” 

“You got this?” Glenn asked her when she turned toward the door but kept her eyes on Rick. 

“Deanna was right about you…” Rick said, stepping toward her before looking at Hannah as well. “And about you. They’ll both go.”

“He only wanted to talk to Maggie.”

“You get both or neither. They work as a team, they’ll trade as a team.”

“I don’t know that he’ll agree to that.”

“Is he gonna stop me?” 

“Well no…”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“He may not be as agreeable. He’s not exactly the most mature leader anyone’s ever seen.”

“Look. I get it.” Hannah said, making sure her voice was much less acerbic as she knew it had been in Gregory’s office earlier. “I'm rough around the edges. A hard life and difficult choices can do that. But my intention isn’t to argue as much as it may sound like. He wants the best deal and I understand that. But we aren’t just going to give him everything he wants just because we’re hungry… I think you of all people know that isn’t how a trade works. What he needs to see is that there are other things we’re capable of doing that your group just isn’t. What happened earlier is proof of that. We want the best deal for us too, but that has to come with compromise.” 

Jesus took a moment as he watched her carefully and finally nodded his head in agreement, turning back into the house and to lead them inside. 

“Sorry in advance, Gregory can be a real prick.” He finally said, walking into the house as they followed him in. They stayed close behind him as he walked down a long hallway and stopped at a door at the very end, giving both of them a knowing look before he nodded his head again and opened the door. 

Much like the rest of the house, the room was full of old furniture and the walls were covered in ugly grey and gold wallpaper along with thick, dark curtains draped from the two windows along the right side of the room. Two antique lamps glowed with soft amber light on either side of Gregory’s bed while he laid there under the covers shirtless as he watched the both of them walk in. 

“Sorry for the gloom. They have me on antibiotics, so I’m… sensitive to the sunlight. This is agony. It’s sort of like mixing my intestines with a cement mixer.” 

Hannah stopped just inside the door and walked over toward one of the windows to lean against the mantle piece just next to it, letting Maggie step over to stand directly in front of him to do most of the talking. 

“It could’ve been a lot worse. You’re lucky we were here.” She said, starting to slowly pace in front of him. “Jesus told you about our offer.”

“He did. What makes you think you can do what we haven’t done?”

“We’ve handled people like Negan.”

“How?”

“They’re dead. We can get your man back.” She answered coolly while Hannah nodded her head in agreement - even if she hadn’t been with them for the people they’d come across, heaven knew Hannah had dealt with her own fair share of monsters. 

“I don’t know if Craig’s worth the trouble. I mean it’s his brother who did this.”

“He was fighting to save someone he loves.” Maggie said, crossing her arms and Hannah stayed quiet, knowing it was best to wait to say anything given how the last conversation with Gregory had ended. “He was afraid.”

“That makes him weak. Frankly, I don’t think I want him back in our gene pool.” 

Hannah closed her eyes and fought the urge to say something, instead choosing to keep herself as easy going as possible to at least give him the inclination she was willing to put up with his bullshit. 

“My dad used to tell me forgiveness takes more strength than anger.” Maggie said, her voice soft and understanding, yet somehow full of the same kind of strength she’d mentioned. 

“Well, I guess.. he is a hell of a cook. He makes theses amazing baked eggs with green tomatoes.”

“You give us supplies… We’ll save Craig and take care of Negan and the Saviors. Permanently.”

“Aha. I’m sorry. I find this whole conversation pretty funny. I mean, you fought when I proposed that your people work for our supplies, but now, isn’t that exactly what’s happening here?”

“Maggie, give me a second.” Hannah said softly, holding out her hand and finally taking a step forward. “Gregory… I know I’m probably the last person you want to speak with, but what you proposed earlier… what you proposed wasn’t a trade we could work with because it sounded like you just wanted us to serve you. That’s not a trade.” She continued, keeping her tone as forgiving as possible. 

“I had leverage, I used it… see, it wasn’t personal.”

“And that may have been the case. But that deal was only benefitting one group. True, we need food, but… not at that cost.” 

“Hannah’s right. We need food. You have it. We’re willing to work for it.”

“Just not on those terms. We won’t be servants or anything along those lines. We’ll help you build if you need it, we’ll help you on runs… we’ll work along side you.” 

“Done. I’ll get supplies for your people.”

“Good.” Both Hannah and Maggie said in unison. 

“I’ll talk to Jesus. He’ll make the arrangements… see this was fun. Exciting.” 

Maggie looked over at Hannah and gave her a single, slow nod of her head, both of them knowing there was far more to this conversation than just agreeing to work with the Hill Top. Hannah nodded with her and looked over at Gregory, full well knowing that Alexandria would come out on top of all of this. 

“Half.” Hannah said, taking another step forward with her arms crossed as Maggie leaned against the tall foot board of Gregory’s bed. 

“Excuse me?”

“Half of what you have. We saw what happened out there. Negan’s expecting more supplies from this place. And more and more. And if it keeps goin’ like that, pretty soon you won’t have anything left…” Maggie said slowly, looking directly at the man who was quickly losing faith in himself to control the situation he didn’t stand a chance of controlling. 

“What happens then?” Hannah asked, knowing that the leverage they held over him was far more dangerous than what he’d tried to hold over them. “Without ammo, without fighters.. you’ll be a deadman. So half of everything you have now.” 

“Or the deal is off.” Maggie said. “You see? We have leverage.” 

Gregory looked at both of them with a look of complete defeat before he slowly and softly clapped his hands. 

“Congratulations. You have yourself a deal. You want anything else? A kidney?”

“Not that. But I do want somethin’.” Maggie added before she stood up and walked to the side of his bed and offered her hand to him. Hannah did the same before Gregory reluctantly shook both of their hands slowly, his grip weak and slightly sweaty and of no surprise to Hannah before she gave him a brief nod and left the room. 

Jesus waited down the hall where he leaned against the bannister before he saw her approach, standing up with a look of expectation. 

“Well?”

“Maybe there’s a glimmer of hope in your leader after all.”

“You came to a deal? Good.”

“Although… you might want to give him a few pointers on how to be diplomatic. Pricks don’t survive long in a world like this. I think he’s gotten by so far because of sheer luck.” 

“You’re not wrong… but the people like him.”

“It’s hard to see why from my vantage point, but I’ll take your word for it.” 

“He can be a good guy when he wants to be. He’s not good with strangers, to say the least.”

“The very least.” Hannah said, turning toward the stairs. “Where’d Daryl disappear to?”

“Back stoop was where I saw him last.” 

“Thanks.”

Hannah took a step down before Jesus carefully grabbed her arm to stop her, looking at her with an uneasy look in his eyes. 

“If your group is really going to try and fight Negan and his men, make sure you don’t let him figure out you and Daryl are together. He sees that as a weakness and he’ll use it against you.”

"Well, it's a good thing he doesn't know me... and bet your ass it'll stay that way if I can help it."

Jesus nodded before he turned and walked down toward Gregory’s room and Hannah gave him a quiet ‘thank you’, a big part of her heart starting to break at the idea of Daryl being taken away from her in any capacity. She stood there on the stairs and watched the stillness of the hallway before she looked down the stairs, listening to the silence of the large house around her and wondering what kind of threat the Saviors truly were. Hannah took a deep uneasy breath and finally made her way downstairs and back to the same back stoop she’d found him on earlier, leaning against one of the columns and watching nothing in particular. 

“You get a deal worked out?” He asked, looking at her over his shoulder and turning slightly to face her. 

“We did, yeah.” Hannah said, walking up and into his arms, hugging her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. “We’re taking half of everything. We just have to take out that guy Negan and his men.” 

“Talk some sense into him while you were at it?”

“That’s a far bigger question than I’m equipped to answer… that I don’t know can be done with him… but I sure as hell made my point.” 

“You didn’t cop too much an attitude, did you?”

“No. No, I was very civil. As difficult as it was.”

“Proud ‘a you. I know you don’t handle dipshits all that well.”

“It’s a weakness.” 

Hannah looked up at him and he leaned down to kiss her, his lips soft and delicious like they aways were. Her heart breaking even more knowing that the strength she knew she’d found with him was only a brutal weakness cloaked in disguise. 

“Somethin’ wrong?” Daryl asked, breaking away from her enough to see the saddened look on her face.

“Jesus told me something a minute ago and I really… didn’t like it.”

Daryl said nothing in return as he waited for Hannah to continue, dropping his arm wrapped around her shoulder to hold his hand at the small of her back. 

“He said not to let this guy Negan figure out or know we’re together. He said he’ll see it as weakness. Use it against us…” She said quietly, swallowing hard at the worry that anything could happen to him. “And that scares the shit out of me.” 

“I ain’t gonna let anything like that happen.” 

“How can you be sure? We don’t know what he’s capable of… I mean, groups as big as twenty? We’ve got firepower, but we don’t have THAT kind of fire power…” 

“Quit overthinkin’ it. We’ll handle ‘em. Done more with less. And you ‘an me… we make a good team.”  
Hannah squeezed her arms tighter around him before Rick walked out of the back door to join them, looking out at the wall just a handful of yards away before he finally spoke. 

“Hannah I wanna thank you for doin’ what you did. For sayin’ what you said.”

She nodded slowly and stood up a little straighter, still holding her arm along Daryl’s back as Rick took a step toward her and held her shoulder. 

“What you’ve done for this group… it’s hard to put into words how much you mean to us. What with you keepin’ the work on the walls going, keepin’ security tight and focused and making sure people get along… thank you.” 

Hannah could think of nothing to say or do other than give him a small, warm smile before she stepped over to hug him, feeling incredibly thankful that she could call him and the rest of their group family. 

“That’s what people do for their family.” She finally said after she kissed his cheek and pulled away. “So thank you for letting me be a part of it.” 

Rick gave her a small nod as he looked down at the ground and back up at them, moving to step back toward the back door. 

“Gregory gave the go ahead to load up some supplies and food and Jesus is gonna help with that. I wanna talk to the guy that takes their drops to Negan and see what he can tell us. Maybe get him to come with us when we decide to do this.” 

“Smart way to do it.” Hannah said as Daryl stood up straight to follow after Rick. She tucked her fingers into the back of his pants and went along with them to the front of the house, finally letting go after Daryl gave her a warm kiss on her cheek before he and Rick left her on the steps. Hannah turned her attention to her people already loading baskets onto the RV and she stepped up into the small space, counting the baskets of miscellaneous crops and medical supplies as they were stacked one on top of the other across the floor. 

As everyone was loading more and more supplies onto the RV, Hannah stood and made a mental note of everything they were taking with them. Rick made his amends with one of the men who’d come back from his run in with Negan and soon enough, everyone had finally loaded themselves back onto the RV, the sun starting to make it’s fall into the evening when Rick turned the key in the ignition. Hannah took her place next to Daryl across from the door and rest her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and feeling the weight of the day start to pull her closer to sleep. 

But despite how much they’d had to do throughout the day, Hannah’s mind couldn’t fully let go of what Jesus had said about the one weakness she knew she would always have. She brought her arm behind Daryl’s back and moved her hand slowly across his shoulders, digging her nails in gently to massage into his hard muscles, willing away the worry of what could happen from here and instead focusing on the man she loved more than anything else. 

Hannah lost herself in her thoughts for a while as she held Daryl’s hand with their arms linked together and her leg crossed toward him, looking across the space at nothing in particular until she saw Glenn hand Michonne a small piece of paper. She looked at it and smiled to herself before it slowly faded, the joy of what she was looking at weighing on her conscience before she leaned forward and handed Daryl the piece of paper. 

The picture was black and white and looked like the static on a television screen, a small dark oval in the middle containing the smallest form of life that made everything seem all the more dangerous. The precious and fragile beginnings of a life that would be fraught with painful decisions and difficult hardships. Of a life that any and all of this family would do anything to protect, one they would all help to raise and teach important lessons. But most importantly, a life they would all love as their own.


	30. Chapter 30

The RV pulled slowly into the gates of Alexandria after a while and Hannah slowly pulled herself out of Daryl’s arms, willing herself to wake up from the half nap she’d fallen into just after they’d left the Hill Top. Rick pulled up as Aaron and Sasha approached his side of the RV and told them to have everyone meet at the church for a meeting, restarting the vehicle a moment later to pull up at the garage that everyone used as a pantry.

“This’ll get us by for another month or so. We’ll have to ration, but it’ll work.” Hannah said to Olivia as she stepped out of the RV and stood just next to the door. Daryl followed her out with an armful of baskets and Abraham and Jesus followed him, each of them helping to unload the month’s worth of food for their community before everyone slowly made their way toward the church.

“You’ve been quiet.” Daryl said softly, taking Hannah’s hand in his.

“Is that such a bad thing?” She asked, looking up at him.

“Only when I think you’re stuck worryin’ about somethin’ you shouldn’t be worryin’ about.”

“Daryl, losing you scares the daylights out of me. I can’t help it.”

“Told ya we’d handle it. Don’t get ahead ‘a yourself.”

“I know I shouldn’t… it’s just not really a conscious decision I can turn off and on.”

“You stick with me ‘an we’ll be fine.” He said, his tone comforting and strong when he pulled open the door to the church and waited for Hannah to walk inside.

Most of Alexandria had already found their seats and Hannah followed Daryl to their own pew towards the front, watching as Rick walked up to the front of the room to wait for everyone to arrive.

“Glad to see everyone here.” Rick said meaningfully, looking out at their group and holding one of his hands on his hip. “As you might’ve heard, we came back with food and supplies to last us another few weeks. It’s long overdue, I know… I know it’s been rough. It’s been hard for all of us. But I have some hope now. Because we have a new community, the Hill Top, that sent us home with everything we needed to get by…” He continued, pausing only to lift his hand to introduce Jesus who sat just next to where Rick stood. “Everyone, this is Jesus. He found me an’ Daryl out on our last run the other day. There were some mishaps and some frustration, but we can consider him an ally. And I want you to hear first hand about his community.”

“Hi everyone.” Jesus said, his voice only slightly nervous when he stood. “And no, my real name’s not Jesus. Everyone at home just calls me that. But I come from a place called the Hill Top. And I’m looking forward to working with you guys… Now, Rick said we have food and supplies, which is true, but we also don’t have ammo. And we don’t have a lot of people who are able to fight. But we also have a problem that we’re hoping you can help us with… Our community has walls much like yours does. Tall, strong, security lookouts twenty four hours a day. But when we put those walls up, a group of people called the Saviors found us. Killed one of us, threatened us, and made us a deal to give them half of everything we have just so they won’t attack us. So you can see now how the ‘no ammo’ thing puts us in a difficult situation… which is why I’m glad to be here. Why I’m glad I ran into Rick and Daryl the other day. Because our groups can help each other.”

Hannah looked up and Rick gave her a small nod before she stood up and stepped past Daryl, letting her hand linger on his shoulder for a second before she turned around and looked at their group.

“The idea here is we help them take out the Saviors. We all remember that night after the walkers nearly took this place. Our community… our home. But we fought. We fought hard and long and we were tired and we were hungry afterward. But we won. Now… taking out the Saviors could mean we save this place once again. The Hill Top sent us home with something we sorely needed, so now we have a job to do. Maggie and I spoke with their leader earlier and we've agreed to help take out the Saviors before they can even become a threat to us. Everyone who came back today has already agreed to do this… but we can’t do it by ourselves. The more of you we can get on board, the better our chances.”

“Hannah’s right. The Hill Top has done a huge courtesy in sending us home with what they could. And we can work with the Hill Top. Maggie and Hannah hammered out a deal. We’re getting food; eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they’re not just givin’ it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, Hannah and Abraham on the road. Now sooner or later they woulda found us. Just like those Wolves did. Just like Jesus did. They woulda killed someone. Or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them. By then, in that kinda fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure. Assurance that we can win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hill Top, it’s how we keep this place, it’s how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here’s your chance to say your piece.”

Hannah looked down at Daryl and stepped past him again, taking her place next to him with his arm resting on the back of the pew while he relaxed back into his shoulder. She brought her hand to rest on his thigh, moving her thumb smoothly along his jeans before he brought his arm down to hang from her shoulder. The rest of the group looked around in silence and Daryl and Hannah looked behind them just as Morgan stood up in the back, neither of them surprised to see him standing before he finally spoke.

“You’re sure we can do it? We can beat ‘em?”

“What this group has done, what we’ve learned, what we’ve become, all of us. Yes. I’m sure.” Rick answered, looking directly at Morgan.

“Then all we have to do it just tell ‘em that.”

“They.. They don’t compromise.”

“This isn’t a compromise. It’s a choice you give ‘em. It’s a way out. For them and for us.”

“We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our SAFETY. NO. We have to come for them before they come for us. We can’t leave them alive.”

“Where there is life, there’s possibility.” Morgan argued, tears starting glass over his eyes. Hannah moved to try and stand up and Daryl stopped her, holding her closer to his body to let Rick argue instead.

“Of them hitting us.”

“Hey, we’re not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this…”

“Morgan, they always come back.”

“They come back when they’re dead, too.”

“Yeah, we’ll stop them. We have before.”

“I’m not talking about the walkers.”

“Morgan wants to talk to them first. I think that would be a mistake. But it’s not up to me. I’ll talk to the people still at home. I’ll discuss with the people on guard now, too. But who else wants to approach the Saviors, talk to them first?“

“What happened here… we won’t let that happen again. I won’t.” Aaron said, standing up and nodding toward Rick.

“Rick has a point about us having the advantage.” Hannah said, looking back at Morgan who still stood alone at the back of the church. “You weren’t out there in the road with those Saviors, so you wouldn’t have any idea that they weren’t the kind of group that compromises. They either take what you have or they kill you. There’s no middle ground. And there’s too much at stake to give up the advantage we have. Have all the hope you want, but it won’t get you anywhere. Not with them.”

“Looks like it’s settled… We know exactly what this is. We don’t shy from it. We live… We kill them all… We don’t all have to kill. But, if people are gonna stay here, they do have to accept it.” Rick said, addressing no one in particular and fooling no one into believing he wasn’t talking directly to Morgan as he walked down the aisle toward the exit.

“Fuck, you’re smart.” Daryl said, his voice a hard, deep whisper as he leaned in and kissed her cheek, lingering there for a second before kissing behind her ear.

“Take me home, then.” Hannah breathed, taking his hand in hers and bringing it to her waist.

Daryl stood up and grabbed her hand, nearly dragging her behind him as she struggled to keep up. The two of them poured out of the church doors before Daryl took a step down and turned around, pulling Hannah’s hands over his shoulders and hoisting her weight onto his back. Hannah let out a playful laugh and kissed the back of his head while she held her arms around him, wanting nothing else than to feel his naked body against hers as he quickly made his way back toward home and closed the door with a loud thud.

Hannah slid down his back and Daryl turned around to face her, pressing his lips against hers in a hard kiss full of want and need for her. He grabbed for both sides of her waist and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her weight from the floor and carrying her back to their bedroom and closing the door.

“God, I need you.” Hannah said in a weak whisper after Daryl laid her down and stood up above her. She leaned up and reached for the buckle of his old belt buckle, tearing it open and shoving his pants to the floor while he shrugged off his shirt and vest to leave them in a heap on the floor. “I wanted you all day today.” She added, her words hardly more than a whisper as she wrapped her hand around his cock and took all of him in her mouth.

“Fuck, I woulda let you do whatever you wanted to me out there.” Daryl said, his voice deep in his throat and his hand moving down to hold at the back of Hannah’s head.

“Mm, well, if I’d have known that…” She said smoothly before kissing along all of him and starting to slowly stroke him while she massaged his balls with her tongue.  
Hannah moved down to wrap her lips around him again, quickly working herself into rhythm while Daryl’s hips started to do the same, his thick tip gagging her over and over. She took a moment to catch her breath before she went to take him deep in her throat again and Daryl stopped her so that he could lift her further onto their bed and pull her clothes off with striking, desperate speed.

“My turn.” He said in a near growl, holding his hands tight to her hips and kissing along her stomach as he loomed over her. Daryl took his time kissing along every inch of her skin, full well knowing it was driving her crazy with every second of anticipation that he wasn’t inside of her. He finally found Hannah’s clit and quickly started to tease her, his tongue moving in heavenly twirls and circles around it while pushing his fingers just inside of her entrance. Hannah’s breath caught in her lungs and she opened her legs even further for him, grabbing for a handful of his long dark hair and pushing it out of his face while she watched him.

“Oh my- Daryl-“ Hannah breathed, her body writhing underneath him. “Baby get up here.” She begged, her slick, warm juices already coating his hand before he got up and kissed her.  
Daryl centered himself between Hannah’s legs and moved his tip along the soaking lips of her pussy, teasing her before he finally eased himself inside of her, burying himself deep into every inch she could give him. Hannah hissed at the feel of him, hard and thick inside her walls before he started to move, bringing her hands to either side of his chest and holding him close to her body.

“God damn, you’re fuckin’ tight.” He said from between his teeth, leaning down to kiss along Hannah’s collarbone and bringing his arms to rest on either side of her.

“That’s ‘cause your so fucking big.” Hannah said softly, kissing his cheek as he started to work his way into a delicious pace. She moved her hands swiftly along his sides and up to hold both sides of his neck while he brought his hand up to tug on her nipple, leaning in and pressing his lips hard to hers. Daryl started to move even faster, pushing himself deeper inside of her and his voice leaving him in deep, gritty moans with every move he made. Hannah struggled to keep control over herself underneath him, sweeping her hand through his damp hair and bringing her other between them to feel their slick connection.

“You like the feel ‘a that?” Daryl growled, touching his forehead to Hannah’s at the feel of her fingers along his cock and her soaking lips.

“Fuck yes, I do.” Hannah returned just before Daryl straightened up over her and grabbed for the backs of her knees, pushing them up toward her chest. She tightened herself around him and moaned into her own shoulder, hardly able to keep her volume under control.

“Jesus fuckin’ Chr-“

“Oh my g-"

“Fuck! Get up!” Daryl begged, pulling out of her and giving the outside of her thigh a playful slap before he sat down at the head of the bed and leaned against the headboard. Hannah did as he asked and got up on her knees to face him, slowly making her way toward him to hover over his lap.

“Fuckin’ ride me.” He breathed, bringing his hands to her hips. Hannah held her hand at the back of Daryl’s neck and brought her hands back between them, rolling her hips on top of him and teasing his cock along the soaking lips of her pussy and hissing at the feel of him hard against her.

“Mm, no, I like this.” Hannah teased, pressing his tip into her clit and teasing herself.

“C’mon, Hannah-“ Daryl struggled to say, adjusting his hips beneath her as he brought one of his hands between them and pushed his fingers inside her entrance.

“What, you don’t like it when I tease you?” She smiled, leaning in to kiss him before he turned away and refused her kiss, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing along her collarbone. “Mm, fucker.”

Without hesitation, Hannah moved to bury him deep inside of her, moaning into the feel of him and pressing her lips heavily against his. Daryl slipped his tongue between her lips to taste every last bit of her while his hand moved along her spine, sending goose bumps across her skin. The sound of their movements filled the silence of the room around them along with the soft moans and whispered words of need they breathed into one another’s kiss, Daryl’s hands holding warmly to Hannah’s ass before he shifted his body down into the bed to lay down beneath her.

“I love you, Daryl.“ Hannah breathed, breaking away from his kiss and looking deep into his eyes, memorizing every flawless speck of blue and grey like she’d never see them again.

“Love you too, Hannah.” Daryl returned, the grit in his deep voice throwing her senses into overdrive.

Daryl moved to wrap both of his arms around Hannah’s waist and started to thrust underneath her, taking control of their rhythm before lifting his knees behind her and bouncing her in his lap. Heavy breaths and moans left Hannah’s throat as the swell of heat and waves of bliss rolled through her body, every inch of Daryl moving inside of her throwing her over the edge. Hannah moaned hard into Daryl’s neck and nipped at his skin, kissing up along the side of his neck as her orgasm nearly gushed out of her, coating their thighs and dripping into a small, warm puddle on their sheets.

"Shit, Hannah..." Daryl struggled to say, his breath catching in his lungs as his muscles grew hard against her body. He lifted her body off of his and Hannah laid down on her back, biting her bottom lip and whimpering when his lips found her clit, sucking and nibbling to taste her sweet, delicious come. Her body shuddered beneath him and Daryl moved down off of the bed to stand at the edge, pulling Hannah’s hips to meet him and turning her onto her stomach in front of him.

“I can’t last much longer…” Hannah moaned as Daryl pushed himself deep inside of her once again, looking up at him from over her shoulder before collapsing into the rumpled blankets.

“God damn, look at you.” Daryl mused, moving one of his hand smoothly across her ass and looking down to watch himself thrust hard and deep in and out of her. Hannah came hard once again and nearly screamed into the sheets, the sound in her throat choked at the ecstasy rolling through ever nerve in her body.

“Oh my go- Dar- I ca-“ Hannah breathed, bringing one of her hands to her breast and tugging hard on her nipple as Daryl’s grunts grew louder, his hips slamming into hers before he pulled out of her and took a rushed step back.

Hannah turned over and slid off of the edge of the bed to kneel in front of him, her eyes locked on his as she wrapped her lips around his cock, hard and soaked in her come. She moaned into him and moved in smooth strokes along him, teasing his balls with one hand while she stroked along with her mouth with the other. Daryl reached for the back of her head and started to thrust his hips into her mouth, his tip gagging her until he pulled out and watched her offer her tongue to him, his warm come coating the insides of her cheeks and tongue. His voice left him in light, raspy moans and Hannah gave him a devious smile, using the tip of his cock to swipe his come off of her cheek and into her mouth. Hannah’s tongue teased him as she licked up every last drop she could until his body shook and he took a step back to watch her, biting his own bottom lip as she licked her lips and swallowed hard for him.

“Fuckin’ beautiful, look at you.” He said softly, leaning down and kissing her. Hannah brought her hands to either side of his face and slowly stood up with him, her skin on fire at the feel of his hands holding at her waist.

“You’re beautiful, too, you know.” Hannah said quietly, breaking away from him only enough to look into his eyes.

“Stop.” Daryl blushed, trying to look away before she stopped him.

“No, I mean it.” She smiled, letting go of him and backing her way into the bathroom to clean herself up.

Hannah returned to the bedroom a few moments later to see Daryl sprawled across the bed on his back, holding one of his hands on his temple with his eyes closed. She leaned against the door frame and watched him lay there naked, his chest and stomach rising and falling with each slow breath he took. A warm smile pulled at the corners of her lips and Hannah couldn’t help but fall even deeper in love with him, just watching him be purely himself.

“What you starin’ at?” He asked with his eyes still closed.

“You.” Hannah answered simply before a bigger smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. Daryl strained to look up at her and used his finger to wave her over to him, his eyes never leaving hers as she walked slowly toward her side of the bed and crawled under the covers. Pulling the blankets out from under himself, Daryl moved in close and held Hannah tight, his strong arms holding warmly to her waist while they laid there together in the soft light of the afternoon filtering in through the curtains.

“You’re the best thing ’ta ever happen to me.” Daryl said softly in Hannah’s ear, his breath hot against her skin as she choked up, tears stinging at the backs of her eyes.

“So are you.” She returned, looking up at him and turning to face him, holding his cheek in her hand and kissing him. “Anything ever happens to you…”

“Don’t.”

“No, Daryl, I will.” Hannah said purposefully, swallowing hard at the reality of how dangerous the plan to take out the Saviors would be. “If anything ever happens to you… if someone hurts you… or if someone takes you… or worse. I swear I-“

“Hannah. Don’t.”

“I swear to whatever God might still be out there…” Hannah choked on her words and squeezed her eyes shut, bringing her other hand to cover both of her eyes before Daryl hugged her even closer and kissed her forehead. She took a deep shaky breath and pulled away from just enough to look deep into his eyes, sniffing hard and swallowing away the weakness her heart felt at the idea of anyone hurting him before she could finally speak. “I will kill anyone who gets in my way to find you.”


	31. Chapter 31

The hours of the late afternoon passed before Hannah finally pulled herself from Daryl’s arms and sat at the edge of the bed, stretching out her limbs slowly and completely. Daryl moved behind her and came to her side of the bed, sitting just behind her with both of his legs on either side of her, bringing his arms to wrap around her stomach while he kissed her shoulder. 

“I don’t think you should go tomorrow.” He said softly into her skin. 

“You know there’s no way you’re gonna stop me.” 

“I know… had to try though.”

Hannah turned around to look at him before she slid off of the bed and turned to get on her knees in front of him, moving her hands smoothly along his thighs and up either side of him. 

“We make a good team. You make me feel safe. I feel better knowing I can be with you if something were to happen… and I’m a part of this deal. I helped make it, I need to see it through.” 

Daryl nodded in resigned agreement while Hannah looked up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips before he leaned down to kiss her. She kissed him back and finally stood up to get dressed again, handing Daryl his own clothes when he joined her a moment later. The both of them finished putting themselves together and walked back out to the kitchen and Daryl planted himself on a barstool, watching as Hannah slowly washed a couple of apples they’d brought back from the Hill Top and handed him one. 

The door to the house behind Daryl opened a moment later and Rick poked his head inside, looking over at the both of them eating at the kitchen counter before he stepped inside, holding one of his hands on his hip when he walked toward them. 

“We’re gonna go over a plan of action with Jesus and the other guy from the Hill Top down the street in few minutes. They’re on their way there from getting somethin’ to eat.” He said, waving them to join him before they followed him out the door and started toward the same house they’d kept Jesus in the night before. 

“What’s that guy’s name again?” Hannah asked as they came up to the house and walked up towards the porch. 

“Andy.”

The three of them let themselves in to see various members of their group crowded around a makeshift plywood table with Andy sitting on one side before he looked up to watch them step closer toward them.

“Andy, this is Hannah. Not sure if you got to meet her officially earlier, but she helps keep this place goin’. Keeps the expansion going, goes on runs with us from time to time.” Rick sad as he held Hannah’s shoulder gently. 

Andy nodded toward Hannah as she did the same before Rick set a piece of paper in front of him and handed him a marker, looking at each person standing around the table before he finally spoke. 

“Before we start, I want a good idea of what we might run into with this place… they’re armed, right? How many people do you think might be there?” Rick asked, looking over at Daryl and back to Andy. 

“Heavy artillery from what I saw. They keep the place guarded at all hours… but I couldn’t give you a number. I see different people there every time.”

“Always armed?”

“Always armed.”

“Now, this building… what can you tell us? Describe it.” Rick continued. 

“Rectangular building. Big satellites on it.” Andy said as he drew a rough image on the paper in front of him. 

“Any windows?” Abraham asked from across the table. 

“Don’t remember any, I think they made it so there’s only one way in.”

“Guards outside?” Rick asked.

“Yeah. Two of ‘em at least.”

“And you don’t know how many people they have?” Michonne chimed in, crossing her arms over her body.

“No… I mean no, I saw a place where they stored food. It wasn’t that big.”

“You’ve been inside?” Rick said, leaning forward as Glenn laid down another piece of paper. 

“Yeah. They had us load in supplies one time.”

“What do you remember?” Glenn asked, watching as Andy continued to draw the rough images that his memory would let him. Hannah watched him carefully and leaning into Daryl’s shoulder. comforted by the warmth of his body against hers before he moved to drape his arm over her shoulders. 

“I really just saw the hallway with the pantry off to one side. There was another hallway up ahead that we never got to.”

“You didn’t see any other rooms?” Maggie asked.

“No. It’s a big place. This is the hallway I saw. There's more.”

“And every time they had you bring things into here?” Michonne asked as she pointed to the room labeled pantry on the his sketch. 

“Jesus… We brought a couple spears to them, two of the Saviors took ‘em down this hallway…” He explained, drawing a curved arrow down one side of the sketched hallway as he jogged his memory. “Now they must’ve… done something with ‘em because they didn’t come back with ‘em.”

“Maybe a weapons locker? An armory.” Jesus suggested as Hannah leaned forward, watching Andy label one side of his paper with ‘armory’ in all caps. 

“Get in there, secure the armory. That’s how we end it.” Glenn said purposefully as he stood next to Rick and brought both of his hands to his hips. 

“It’s how Carol ended it here.” Maggie added, looking down at the blueprint on the table. 

“But we don’t know if they have an armory… or where it is.” Andy returned, standing up straight. 

“Well…” Daryl spoke up, holding his hand absently up to his chin as Hannah stepped slightly away from him and watched him fold his arm across his chest. “We got a lot a good guesses. We’ve done more with less.”

“We go in at night. While they’re sleeping.”

“Guards won’t be sleeping. Like I said, I think there’s only one way in. And there’s no way to bust through that door without waking up the rest of ‘em.” 

“We won’t need to bust the door open.” Hannah said as she looked over at Maggie and Rick. “They’ll open it for us and let us walk right in. You said earlier they wanted Gregory’s head… And we can give it to ‘em.”

“What?”

“Think about it. We show up at night with something they want. You can’t see as well at night as you can during the day. We find a walker who’s older and balding and I bet you we get in there. Or at least enough distraction to knock a few of them out to get in without being heard.”

“You think they’ll honestly buy that?” Andy questioned, the look on his face uncertain. 

“I think it’ll work enough to get us in, yeah.” Hannah said confidently, looking up at Rick and Maggie again. 

“If we play our cards right, it’ll work.” Maggie agreed, nodding toward Hannah. 

“And we will. Like Daryl said, we’ve done more with less. Like with what happened with Woodbury however long ago… We can do this. We just have to know what cards we have in our hand.” Rick went on as everyone else nodded with him. 

“We didn’t even have that with Woodbury. Flyin’ blind with some luck and a lotta smoke grenades.” Daryl added while Hannah stepped back away from the table and rejoined him. 

“Well, I think we have enough of an idea with what he have to start. At least we have SOMEthing.” Hannah said, bringing her hand to hold along Daryl’s back. 

“Hannah, you and Daryl make a good team, so I think you ought to stay close. Once we make it in, we stick with one person no matter where we go. Your person goes around a corner, you go around a corner. They go in a room, you go in a room. Use your knives. No gun fire unless somethin' happens.” Rick explained while everyone carefully listened. “Once we get close enough tomorrow we can hammer out even more details when we can see a bit more closely what we’re dealin’ with… so I think for now, get some rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be long.”

“But before you guys leave…” Hannah spoke up again, catching everyone’s attention as they started to turn to walk toward the door. “I want to make something perfectly clear… what we’re doing is not to be taken lightly. And it’s not to be seen as something we’re doing as some kind of knee jerk reaction. Tomorrow is going to be difficult. For all of us. We don’t know for sure what we’ll run into and we’re going to have to work with one another and improvise… But more importantly - and I can’t emphasize this enough - once we’re in there, you CANNOT hesitate. When you see one of their men, you kill them. DO. NOT. HESITATE. You’ll not only be putting yourself and your partner in danger, but you’ll be putting ALL of us in danger… This is a big, dangerous, carefully thought out and calculated move and it has to be executed just right so we don’t run the risk of putting our home in danger, too… No one here LIKES killing a person because it’s not a pleasant experience. It’s messy and complicated and it mixes your head up. Turns you upside down. But tomorrow… you HAVE to get over that. We have far too much to lose if you can’t.” 

Hannah gave everyone a moment to let her words soak in and resonate, looking at each person standing there in the dimly lit room before she finally looked over at Rick and gave him a small nod as he did the same. 

“We’ll see all of you tomorrow.” She finally finished, giving a small wave to everyone before they turned to leave. Hannah went to follow everyone out and Daryl’s hand stopped her, pulling her body into his for a long, warm hug. 

“They needed to hear that.” He said softly with his arms wrapped around her neck and his lips kissing behind her ear. 

“Tomorrow could very well change everything… It had to be said.” Hannah returned, holding her hands easily at his sides. 

“Rick was right about you an’ Maggie.” Daryl added before he broke away from her and took her hand. Hannah gave him a soft smile and Daryl led her out of the house and back toward their own, holding her hand warmly in his with their fingers laced together as he led her back into their bedroom and helped her slowly take off her clothes before he did the same. 

“You’re kinda touchy feely tonight.” Hannah teased when he shrugged out of his vest and took off his shirt. 

“Lot on my mind. Lot to lose tomorrow.”

“Daryl, don’t do that to yourself.” She said, crawling into bed and pulling the blankets over her lap. “We can do this.”

“Mm. Can’t depend on that alone to get us through it though.” Daryl returned, standing nearly naked and holding one arm with the other. 

“Come here.” Hannah said as she moved to sit at the edge of her side and watched him step toward her. She took his hand and pulled him closer between her legs so she could hold either side of his hips, looking up at him with a gentle smile. “You even said yourself you’ve done more with less. And I know I’ve never gone on this kind of mission with you before, but… what we did in the woods? I have every confidence we can do this.”

“Just don’t wanna lose anyone else. Case it goes bad… ‘specially don’t want nothin’ happenin’ to you.” 

“Then we won’t let anything happen to us... Baby, we can do this.” Hannah gave him another small, warm smile and Daryl climbed into bed with her, sprawling out on his back before Hannah brought herself into the warm curve of his shoulder and curled herself into him. 

The night grew darker and Daryl slowly fell asleep next to her as Hannah absently moved her fingers along his bare stomach, lost in her thoughts and everything at stake with what would happen the following day. It was easy to hold a facade of strength and conviction in front of a group who sorely needed to see it, but for Hannah to truly feel it was a completely different task altogether. Truth was, while she truly believed they could handle what would happen tomorrow, it wasn’t her first instinct to show her strength. It was her first instinct to be terrified of losing the people she cared about most in the world.


	32. Chapter 32

The RV barreled down the road and everyone sat in quiet anticipation as the late afternoon passed them by. Hannah sat between Daryl’s legs with his arms wrapped loosely around her with his hands in her lap and his chin resting on her shoulder. She held her hands on top of his with her fingers laced between his and absently watched as the landscape passed by, the nerves deep in her gut getting the better of her as they twisted and turned the further they got away from home. 

Hannah lost track of how long they’d been driving until Rick slowed the RV to pull over and stop at the side of the road and everyone slowly got to their feet. The horn of the RV rang loudly along with those from the cars following closely behind them as Hannah stood just next to Daryl and Michonne before Daryl’s hand moved to hold at the small of her back, gently pushing her toward the door and out onto the pavement. 

“Got your guns, right?” He asked in a rough whisper. 

“Loaded and two extra mags.” Hannah said quietly as she checked her jacket pockets and the sheath hanging from her belt for the knife she’d carried with here since the beginning. “Just in case.”

“Hopefully we won't need ‘em.”

“Crossing my fingers we won’t.” 

Hannah looked over at Rick as he stepped out onto the road and followed him along with everyone else to the side of the road, gathering just in front of the RV and watching carefully at the tree line for any kind of movement. 

“Aaron. Rosita. You start here. Peel off every quarter mile. Meet back here in a couple hours. See what we got.” Rick announced as everyone took off in different directions. 

Hannah and Daryl turned down the road along with Sasha and Abraham once again and kept walking, following the old two lane highway until there wasn’t anything left to see but a road they’d already traveled down. The air was nearly still and warm and the four of them stood in the middle of the road watching for anything that caught their attention 

“Look.” Hannah said suddenly as a small group of walkers stalked their way across a small field. Carcasses of livestock were dotted throughout the field and Hannah walked up to the barbed wire fence to get a better look at the corpses slowly making their way toward them. “Shit.”

“None ‘a those’ll work.” Daryl said when he stopped just next to her, shielding the light from his eyes and watching them get closer.

“Too young.” Hannah said, disappointed. "And not nearly as ugly." She added, laughing at herself and catching Daryl do the same.

“You really think a plan like that’s gonna work?” Sasha asked when Hannah and Daryl stepped back onto the road and turned back toward the RV. 

“It’s going to have to.” Hannah said plainly, looking down the road again. 

“Might be dark enough, with our luck the guy won’t be able to tell his nuts from a burlap sack.” Abraham added. Hannah snorted at his entertaining way with words and they all turned to leave. The three of them continued to walk and a silence fell between them once again, the world around them still until they finally came up over a small hill to see the rest of their group gathering between two of the cars they’d driven. 

“Find anything?” Rick asked as he walked up to them with the severed head of a walker hanging gripped in his hand. 

“It was pretty empty down from where we looked. The ones we did find looked nothing like him. Too young.” Hannah explained as she hiked herself up to sit on the hood of the truck in front of where Daryl was now sitting with his elbows resting on his knees. The rest of the group gathered around them and Rick stood toward the center of them, handing the head of the walker he’d been holding to Glenn before he turned to face everyone. 

“Alright everyone, listen up. I’m glad you all got back here safe, but we have a lot more work to do. From here, we’re going to keep moving. Once we get to the compound, we’re gonna take a look around. Try to get a feel for how many people are in there. Like how it looks, we go in. A couple ‘a hours before dawn. The guards outside’ll be tired. Everyone inside’ll be sleeping. We don’t like what we see we head back. Make a new plan. They don’t know who we are. We’ll keep Jesus in the shadows. This is how we eat… this is how we eat. We roll out at midnight.” Rick said, taking his time in addressing his plan. Everyone kept quiet and turned to head back toward the vehicles they came in and Hannah and Daryl stayed put, the gravity of what they were preparing to do starting to weigh on their shoulders. 

“Come on. Let’s get some sleep.” Hannah said softly as she turned to face Daryl behind her. “We need to be well rested for tonight.” 

Daryl nodded and slid off the side of the truck hood before he stepped in front of Hannah holding his hands on either side of her hips, pulling her closer to him before he brought them to her waist and helped her down, moving his arm to drape over her shoulders and turned toward the RV. Carol and Rick spoke quietly to one another and Hannah reared her head back in mild confusion at the anger painted across Carol’s face before she walked away, leaving Rick to watch her leave with a look of mild shock on his own. 

“What was that about?” Hannah asked, stepping in front of Daryl and welcoming his hands on her shoulders to knead at the knots in her muscles. 

“She’s angry that Maggie’s here. Thinks she ought’ve stayed back at Alexandria.” Rick said, kneading at the tension behind his eyes.

“She’s just doing perimeter though… why would it matter? She can take care of herself.”

“It’s what I told her. Now she’s insisting on staying with her.” 

“When we need her inside?”

“I told her that, too. She’s insistent.”

“… Has she been acting a little off to anyone else lately? I mean, since the night after the quarry?” Hannah asked, looking back to see Carol opening a car door and climbing in. “She didn’t even go to the Hill Top…”

“We needed someone back home.”

“Then why is she here now?”

Rick looked over Hannah’s shoulder and then back behind his own before finally looking straight down at his feet, his thought lost in a twisted and mangled worry that maybe something was in deed the matter with the woman who Hannah had always seen as stronger than almost anyone. 

“That… is a good question.” Rick finally answered, resigned. 

“Whatever it is that’s up with her… I hope she gets over it. This isn’t the time or place to be having an existential crisis.” Hannah returned, her words loaded with worry and caution before she looked back up at Rick. “Even if that’s what’s going on. We’ll handle this.” 

“We have to.” He said, finally looking back at her.

“We’ll be inside.” Daryl finally chimed in, his hand moving down her back and leaving her when he pulled open the door and stepped up the stairs into the RV. 

Hannah closed the door behind her and watched as Daryl plopped down onto the same seat they’d been in nearly every time, bringing one of his knees up to lean against the side of the cabinet next to him and holding his hand out for her. She took his hand and sat down with him, resting against his leg as she leaned in close and pressed her lips against his for a long, delicious kiss. 

“It ain’t too late if you wanna watch the perimeter with Maggie.” Daryl said when he broke from her kiss. 

“I know it’s not… but I can’t do that.” Hannah said, unable to fight the tears burning at the backs of her eyes. “I can’t bring myself to let this happen and not be by your side… I can’t.” 

Daryl moved his leg down behind her and Hannah leaned up to sit on his lap and wrapped her arms around him, tucking her face into the warm curve of his neck while she hugged him tight. Loving the feel of him holding her close, Hannah closed her eyes and combed her fingers through his hair, memorizing for the millionth time every single piece of him like he could stolen from her at any moment. 

“But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this scares the shit out of me.” She finally said, her voice hardly more than a whisper. “We don’t have much to lose… but we don’t much to begin with.” 

“We’ll win.” Daryl said simply, bringing his forehead to press gently to hers. 

Hannah kissed him again before she turned around in front of him and brought her knees up to her chest, leaning against the cabinet next to them and closing her eyes. Daryl’s breathing grew slower as he fell asleep behind her, his arm resting across her lap between her stomach and her thighs and his face tucked behind her head and against his other arm. Hannah relaxed into his body and slowly let go of the worry she felt of what the night ahead of them would look like, her brain at last letting her fall into a sleep she gladly fell into.

***

The feel of Daryl’s lips pressed against the back of Hannah’s head and gently woke her from her sleep before she slowly opened her eyes. Rick stood at the front of the RV as he loaded his gun and tucked it into his holster as Hannah stretched her limbs where she still sat leaning against Daryl’s chest. 

“It’s late. Probably early mornin' by now. Everybody’s gettin’ gathered up out there.” Rick said slowly, looking out the windshield at their group coming together. 

“Sleep was needed more than I thought.” Hannah yawned, standing up a second later and letting Daryl get up from behind her. 

“Hannah…” Rick said softly, turning to around and looking at her as he stepped toward her and caught her attention. “I just wanna thank you… for everything.” 

“You're we-“

“No, I’m not done.” He interrupted, never looking away from her. “I mean everything. For coming with us in the first place... even when we didn't have anything. For bein’ with him and showin’ him what he’s worth to us. For all the things you’ve done to keep us safe and keep our home stable… All of it.”

Hannah stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight in her own way of responding to everything he’d said. 

“Thank you for letting me stay.” She finally said in a soft whisper, backing away from him to hold his arms before she turned away to grab her rifle and take Daryl’s hand and step outside. Rick nodded to her and followed them outside, joining the rest of their group and standing at the front of them before he spoke. 

“Everyone’ll stay back out of sight. We don’t make a move or a sound until Daryl and Hannah take out the guards at the door. When you see them wave toward the tree line, you move in. Michonne and I will be just behind them and you'll move in after. Stay low and stay quiet. We don’t wanna get any attention from anyone that might happen to be up. More importantly, and I said this before, you stay close to your partner. They move, you move. Use your knives first so we can keep this as quiet as possible. If things go bad, then pull out your guns. But only IF things get bad. We don’t wanna draw any more attention than we have to.” 

The group remained quiet and slowly nodded toward him before he waved for everyone to move out, headed for the woods where their steps were muffled and quiet in the grass and leaves still damp from the rain earlier the previous day. Hannah stayed close behind Daryl with her knife drawn and held up in front of her chest, watching carefully as the sight of a large white building came into view ahead of them. 

“How’s it look to you?” Rick asked as he nudged Daryl’s shoulder.

“Quiet. Anytime’s gonna work it’s now.” Daryl answered, turning his head only slightly 

“Hannah, Daryl, you guys go ahead. Come out from the back on that side and they won’t see you.” Rick said in a harsh whisper as he pointed toward the building surrounded by multiple massive satellites. "Michonne and I won't be far behind."

“You stay behind me.” Daryl growled protectively, his hand giving her upper arm a warm squeeze before she nodded in agreement and took a deep breath before he hustled out of the trees and bolted for the side of the building. The both of them tucked themselves against the wall and stealthily moved around the corners, each of them making sure the other wasn’t in any danger the further they moved. 

They finally came along the last corner of the building and Daryl held up his hand to keep Hannah from moving any further, carefully looking around the corner and bringing his knife up to hold in front of his chest. 

“Down.” Daryl whispered, crouching down and moving to step behind a thick row of bushes before Hannah grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

“Wait.” She breathed, the adrenaline pumping through her veins almost taking her breath away. “I love you.” Hannah said, giving his arm a warm squeeze. “Just in case.”

“Love you.” He returned, giving her a quick, hard kiss before he slipped into the foliage and pulled her with him. 

The engine of the old SUV the group had brought with them grew louder the closer it drove while Hannah and Daryl crouched under a set of windows behind the bushes, waiting to watch Andy get out of the car. Red light flooded the grass in front of the building a second later and Hannah looked up, praying no one was looking through the windows she and Daryl were just beneath. 

“STOP RIGHT THERE. ANNOUNCE YOURSELF, ASSHOLE.” A man’s voice shouted from around the curved corner of the building’s front entry door. 

“IT’S ANDY FROM HILL TOP. IT’S DONE.”

“STEP OUT.”

The door to the vehicle opened and Andy stepped out of the car, holding tight to the walker head that Glenn had put in a bag. 

“THAT IT?” The man from the building shouted again.

“YEAH.”

“BRING IT HERE, SHIT BRAIN.” 

Andy did as the two men asked and slowly stepped toward the door, the two men holding their rifles finally coming into view. Just beyond them Hannah could see two other members of their group crouching low to the ground and moving quickly toward the building, giving them a small firm nod from around the corner before they tucked themselves out of sight.   
Hannah turned her attention back to Andy as the two guards slowly stepped toward him, looking at the bag he held firmly in his hand when he offered it to them. 

“I don’t want the bag, needle dick.” One of them said before Andy opened it and pulled out the walker’s head. 

“Will you look at this shit! Will you look at this SHIT!” The same guard asked with entertained disbelief while the other pulled his gun onto his shoulder by the strap and took it from him. 

“He broke my hand… I broke his nose. That’s why it looks that way.” Andy said, looking from one of them to the other when the second guard took the head from him and inspected it. He looked back at Andy and slowly lifted the head nearly level with his own and Andy looked away, the first guard starting to laugh when he finally spoke. 

“Lil’ bitch broke my nose. Waaahhhh.” He mocked as the other guard laughed even harder before he tossed the head to the ground. “Ok. Looks like you learned. I’ll get your guy, you’ll go home. And you bring us more stuff next week.” He added, giving Andy a playful albeit disrespectful slap to the cheek before he walked back toward the front door. 

The other guard stayed put and started to whistle, the ‘happy birthday’ tune quickly irritating as Hannah and Daryl started to stand up a little taller to get themselves ready. The guard disappeared into the building and Daryl quickly ran out from the bushes and grabbed him by the head, exposing his thick neck to silently slit his throat. Hannah stood with a rifle aimed at the door as the guard collapsed with a hard thud and Daryl drove his knife into his skull, waving his arm before their people flooded the area to pick up the guard’s lifeless body and carry him out of sight. Hannah quickly followed Daryl to the other side of the building and waited with him, watching as Andy stayed put where he stood for the other guard to return, the rest of their group gone without a trace into the shadows. 

The door burst a moment later and the first guard pushed another man outside in front of him and Hannah watched carefully as Michonne and other members of the group crept behind the bushes. 

“Well well well, look who it is-“ The guard said before he was quickly cut off as Michonne slipped out from the bushes and stabbed her sword through his chest, his body falling to the ground in another hard thud. The group quickly moved into the area and Rick knelt over his body, plunging the blade of his knife into his skull and grabbing his keys. He tossed them to Hannah and she caught out of reflex, tucking them into her pocket before Daryl opened the door and followed her inside. He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, holding his rifle up as their group went ahead of them before he finally moved forward after Rick slipped into the door.   
Everyone in the group gathered and silently passed through another set of doors, Abraham and Sasha moving ahead as Hannah followed closely behind Daryl with the rifle she’d had strapped across her chest held in front of her. 

“Check the doors, find the arsenal. We take them out.” Rick whispered as the group made their way through the halls and checked the rooms with open doors. Hannah could hear her heart beat hard in her ears and she slipped into the dark room that Rick had opened, nodding to Daryl as she held her knife above one of the men sleeping inside. She looked over at Rick while he did the same and gave him a steady nod as she drove her blade into his skull as quietly as possible, the sound of bone and tissue being torn and broken quietly echoing just before blood dripped onto the floor. The two of them moved out and continued down the hall, keeping their bodies against the wall as they searched for the groups armory. 

The sound of a commotion came from somewhere deep in the building before a blaring alarm fired through the air and everyone quickly ducked, panicking as they looked around to see if any of the Saviors had come out of the doors they had yet to check. 

“Hannah!” Rick shouted before she turned around to see one of the residents running toward her, immediately pointing the barrel of her rifle at his face and shooting him to the ground.

“Go!” She shouted, following as Rick and Daryl moved along the wall and Michonne followed behind her. 

An open door stood at the dead end of the hallway and Rick quickly pointed his rifle inside of it, flashes of light and gunfire blasting into the room he was looking in as shouts and loud thuds came from what sounded like a set of metal stairs. 

“GO!” He yelled, letting Daryl, Hannah and Michonne into the hallway and following closely behind them. Daryl opened fire at another Savior and the four of them bolted toward the end of the hallway, looking over his shoulder to make sure Hannah was close behind him. 

“Don’t look back at me, keep going!” Hannah shouted, pointing ahead of them and moving her legs a few beats faster to move in closer. He paused at another corner in the hallway and Rick moved up ahead of him, looking past the doorway just as gunshots fired in his direction. Rick fired back and the room grew silent before Daryl moved past him, holding his rifle up and firing again before the group moved forward. 

Michonne and Hannah tucked themselves around another corner and moved forward, rushing down the hallway behind Daryl with his gun drawn up to a door at the very end. The door opened and another Savior rushed at him just a split second before he thrust the butt of his gun into his face and knocking him to the floor. He planted his foot on his chest and held his gun to the man’s face before Hannah ran up next to him, shoving Daryl to the side and pulling the trigger, catching her breath a second later when she took a step back and leaned against the wall behind her. Daryl watched her for a second as he caught his own breath and gave her a gentle nod of approval, stepping toward her and pulling her arm to step through the door ahead of him. 

Rick and Michonne followed behind them and the building suddenly fell silent, only the soft, distant sounds of voices that belonged to various members of their group rang through the halls as Daryl and Hannah came up to a door that led outside. The four of them stopped to lean against the walls once again, catching their breath and calming the waves of adrenaline still coursing through their veins. 

“I think that was right about what I expected it to be.” Hannah finally said, looking up at Rick and Michonne before looking over at Daryl and standing up to grab his hand. She pulled him up and kissed him, wrapping her arms lazily around his neck to hold him close, his hands falling to hold easily at her hips before she pulled herself away. 

“Hell of a team.” Rick said as he eased his shoulders and rolled at the tension in his neck. ‘You guys stay here. I’ll go get the rest ‘a the group. We’ll all go out together.” He continued, pulling the strap of his gun around his shoulder before he disappeared. 

“I’m glad that’s over.” Michonne finally said, looking down the hallway.

“It ain’t over yet.” Daryl said, moving to lean back against the wall again. 

“We still have to get out of here. It may be silent, but we may not have gotten all of them.” Hannah added, putting her back against the wall next to Daryl and sliding down to crouch on the ground. 

“Don’t know if there were any of ‘em out back neither.” He said above her, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. 

The three of them waited in an easy silence until Rick finally rounded the corner, the rest of the group following him as Hannah grabbed Daryl’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. The early morning daylight filtered in through the small square window in the door and Rick waved them in his direction, taking another hallway off to the side and following to another rolling garage door. 

“Keep your weapons up and ready. You see someone who isn’t with us, you shoot.” Rick said, holding up three of his fingers and counting them down before he pulled the door lever and it quickly rolled upward, the light from outside nearly blinding them. 

The group filtered carefully outside with their guns drawn as they fanned their way outside, canvassing every last inch of the back of the building and around the series of cars parked to their right. Glenn spoke quietly with the man Hannah had briefly met named Heath and she walked out to the middle of the grass clearing, carefully looking around the area at the tree line before she looked back toward the line of cars. She watched as Tara and Heath loaded themselves into the small RV that Glenn and Heath had been looking at before they pulled away, driving slowly through the gate that Rick and Michonne had just opened. 

Hannah turned to walk toward Daryl just as an engine roared behind them and she turned quickly toward the sound coming from inside the building everyone had thought they’d cleared. A Savior they had missed burst out of the building on the bike Daryl had spent weeks working on and Hannah quickly raised her gun, aiming for the Savior before Daryl shouted and started run in front of her. 

“SON OF A BITCH!” He yelled, sprinting toward him just as Rosita shot at him and bike swerved to the ground. 

Daryl quickly caught up to him and barreled him to the ground as Hannah ran over to them, holding her gun toward the man’s face as Daryl sat on top of him, throwing punch after punch and striking his face hard. 

“WHERE’D YOU GET THE BIKE?!” He yelled, holding the man’s collar tight as blood poured out of his mouth. 

“Do it!” The man said as Rick stood over him with his gun on the other side of Daryl. “Like you did everyone else, right?!”

“Answer the que-“ Hannah started, leaning in even closer before a voice came through the walkie talkie laying on the ground that had fallen off of the man Daryl could have easily killed with his hands. 

“Lower your gun, prick.” The woman’s voice said before Hannah looked up and out at the tree line, looking for any kind of movement. “You with the Colt Python and the bitch with the M16. All of you lower your weapons right now.” She continued as Daryl backed away from her and pulled out his own gun, pointing it at the man laying on the ground. 

“Come out. Let’s talk.” Rick said after he picked up the walkie talkie. 

“We won’t come out, but we will talk… We’ve got a Carol and a Maggie. I’m thinking that’s something you wanna chat about.” The woman returned before the radio cut out again. 

“God damn it.” Hannah said under her breath, focusing even harder on the edge of the trees to see if anything other than leaves and trees were visible. “I can’t see anything.” She added in a harsh whisper more to herself than anything as the rain started to come down.

“Now we’re going to work this out. Now. And it’s going to go our way.” The woman said before Daryl pulled up the Savior from the ground and held his gun to his head while Hannah did the same. 

“We have one of yours. We’ll trade.”

“I’m listening.”

“First we wanna talk to Maggie and Carol. Make sure they're alright.” Rick said, everyone in the group focusing hard on the trees and straining to see any type of movement. 

“Rick, it’s Carol, I’m fine b-“ Carol’s voice crackled through the static, her voice sounding weak and nearly petrified, which wasn’t normal for her.

“Rick, it’s Maggie, we’re okay. We’ll fig-“ Maggie said through over the line just a few seconds later before her sentence was cut short. 

“Shut up.” The woman interrupted as Hannah struggled keeping her anger under control at knowing there was little she could do to help the situation other than wait and see what happened. “You have your proof. Let’s talk.” She continued. 

“Alright, this is the deal. Right here.” Rick said, watching ahead of him. “Let ‘em go, you can have your guy back and live.”

“Two for one, that’s not much of a trade.” She said, her voice grating on Hannah’s every last nerve. 

“You don’t have another choice. Or you woulda done somethin’ about it already.” 

The line stayed quite for a moment while everyone assumed the other group was weighing their options and Hannah grew even more impatient, trying to take slow deep breaths to keep herself from doing something that could get Maggie or Carol or both of them killed before Rick spoke into the walkie talkie again. 

“Look, I know you’re talking it over, it’s a fair trade. Just come out. We do this, we all walk away… do we have a deal?” He asked, giving them a moment to answer. 

“I’ll get back to you.”

The line went dead a second later and Hannah swallowed hard at the hot pit of rage burning deep in her stomach when Rick dropped his hand away from his face and looked out at their remaining group. 

“What the fuck!” Hannah hissed under her breath as she took a step back. 

“We’ll get ‘em, Hannah, we will. We gotta be smart.” 

“I know that, Rick, I’m not stupid.” She said angrily, walking around Daryl and up to look at the man he still held by the collar. 

“Where would your people take them?” Rick asked before she could, stepping toward him and pressing his gun to his temple.

“You think I know?”

“Don’t play stupid.” Hannah warned as Daryl shoved him forward and turned him toward the side of the building as the group slowly migrated.

Rick went ahead of them and spoke into the radio before he crouched behind another set of bushed, his attention piqued by a slight movement in the woods to the east. 

“Let me go, I can track ‘em.” Daryl said, watching the small group of people turn away from them. 

“No, we all go.” Rick said as he stood up straight and looked back at their group. “We find them and this deal is over.” He added, giving Hannah and Daryl a small nod before he looked at the man he held by the shoulder and shoved him ahead.

***

The air was damp and still as the group slowly trekked through the woods, each of them following closely behind Daryl and Hannah as he carefully followed whatever kind of trail the remaining Saviors had left him. Hannah held her gun at the ready and listened carefully when Rick whistled for them to stop, everyone stopping in their tracks to listen as he attempted to negotiate with the woman they had all already understood would be killed as soon as whatever door was opened or meeting was had. The deal was over and there was no going back.   
Before long another large building came into view just when Hannah noticed another small group of men heading for it, all of them walking inside the main door as her group remained absolutely still. 

“We stay put.” Rick said in a harsh whisper, holding his hand up to the group behind them. “We stay here until they come back out.”

“Pick ‘em off as they come out?” Hannah asked, turning to look at him from over her shoulder with her knife in one hand and her gun in the other. 

Rick nodded his response and the group waited impatiently, listening carefully to the building ahead of them before a low, distant roar of shouts and pounds came from deep in the building ahead. 

“Move in!” Rick said in a low yell before they all moved together as a group and brought their guns up to the level of their eyes. Glenn and Rosita moved ahead with their rifles and snuck around a series of corners toward an old and rusted metal door, pulling it open just as the rest of them came up behind them before they dropped their weapons. 

“Maggie.” Glenn said, wrapping his arms around his wife as she and Carol appeared, both of them looking terrified and disappointed.

“You okay?” Daryl asked as Carol backed up against the wall, the expression other face full of unease and sadness like Hannah had never seen before. “We caught your trail.” Daryl continued while Hannah held her rifle up and watched the corner as Rosita stepped closer. “You start a fire?”

“Yeah.” She whispered, fighting tears.

“Hey… you good?” He asked, bringing his hand to lift her chin before he wrapped his arm around her.

“No…” She said in another weak whisper. Hannah stepped over and placed her hand gently on her shoulder as Daryl broke away from her, letting her pull her in for a hug of her own, not knowing what to think of the woman she’d always seen as so strong who now looked as if she’d break at any moment. 

“They’re dead. They’re all dead, the ones that took us. They’re all dead.” Maggie said as Hannah took a step back from Carol and let her go, turning around to listen to Maggie.

“Are you okay?” Glenn asked.

“I… I can’t anymore…” Maggie said weakly, nearly collapsing into Glenn’s arms before Hannah turned to the Savior who'd introduced himself as Primo and held her gun up to his head. 

“Your friends are dead. No one’s comin’ for ya, so you might as well talk.” Rick said in a low growl as the man in front of him watched in what looked like horrified shock around the corner. 

“Let ‘em burn.” Daryl added, turning to look at him himself. 

“I’ll ask you again.” Hannah spoke up, stepping around to the side of him before she continued. “Where’d you get the bike?”

“We found it.”

“Like hell you did.” Daryl interrupted. 

“We found it.” Primo repeated. 

“Was Negan in that building last night or was he here?” Rick asked, growing more agitated by the second. Primo stood up straight and looked from Hannah over to Rick and then straight ahead, a small, sly smile pulling at one corner of his lips before he spoke. 

“Both.” He said, turning to look at Rick. “I’m Negan, shithead. There’s a whole world of fun we can talk about. Let’s cha-“

“I’m sorry it had to come to this.” Rick said, giving Hannah a small nod. A single shot burst through his head and Hannah’s arm remained still and pointed when he fell into a crumpled pile on the cement floor. She dropped her hand still holding her gun tight and watched the pool of blood around him slowly get bigger before she looked away from him, a wave of relief sweeping over her that this was finally over. 

“What a fuckin’ prick.” She said in a low, irritated groan. “All we asked was a simple question. No need to complicate it.” 

Daryl nodded and stepped away from where he stood as Hannah did the same, moving toward the doorway just behind him while their group moved out and headed back toward the satellite building. 

Hannah watched as the group walked ahead of her, falling behind as the heaviness of exhaustion weighed heavily on her limbs and slowed her down. She paid little attention to how far behind she’d gotten until she finally looked ahead and nearly saw them out of sight, their figures weaving beyond the trees before she saw one of them running toward her. Hannah picked up her pace and started to jog toward Daryl as he ran straight toward her, the look on his face painted with concern when he caught up to her. 

“You alright?” He asked, out of breath and holding her shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright.” She said as casually as possible, feeling the little remaining energy drain out of her. “Exhausted. But I’m alright.” 

Daryl took her hand and fell in step with her as they continued back toward where the group had parked their vehicles, both of them ready to fall asleep even while they were still standing and moving. 

“Finally.” Hannah breathed, letting her head fall back when they finally walked over the last wooded hill to see their group gathered around the old RV. “I can’t wait to get home.”

“I’m gonna sleep for about eighteen hours after this. You better join me.”

“Bet your ass I will.” Hannah smiled, reaching to pinch his ass before taking his hand again, relieved to be one step closer to home.


	33. Chapter 33

“Did they fuck it up?” Hannah asked, finally fully rested after nearly two days of doing absolutely nothing as she sat cross-legged on the last step of the front porch and watched Daryl inspect his bike. 

“Gotta change the oil, I think, but nah. Nothin’ I see that ain’t fixable.” Daryl answered, pulling the old leather bag from under the seat and opening it before he tossed whatever was inside out of sight.

“Good.” She said, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked down the street to see Carol walking straight toward them and waving toward her. 

“Didn’t even notice.” Carol said without more than a wave as a ‘hello’. “Got your bike back.” She added, holding a cigarette in one hand as she sat down a few feet from Hannah. 

“Yeah… you got another one a those?” Daryl asked, pointing to her cigarette before she handed one to him and quickly lit it. Hannah leaned forward and rest her cheek on his shoulder, closing her eyes while she moved her hands absently up and down his back. 

“Those people you guys met, the ones in the burnt forest, they took it from you?” She asked, looking back at Hannah and then to Daryl. 

“Yeah…”

“And the one weapon he knew we had.” Hannah added, lazily dropping her hands to his hips. “None of them bothered to check my jacket for the guns I had.”

“You saved ‘em, right?” She asked, looking over at them for an answer neither of them wanted to give. “Sorry… it’s who you are. Still stuck with that.”

“No we ain’t. I shoulda killed ‘em.” Daryl said simply, his words clearly upsetting the woman she never imagined could be slighted so harshly by words as Carol left her pack of cigarettes and got up to leave. 

“I wish I would have.” Hannah added, more to herself than anyone else, regretting how much of a coward it made her feel like that two strangers could have had the upper hand on either of them the way they had.

“Hey.” Daryl said, catching Carol’s attention before she could step away. “The ones that took you and Maggie… what’d they do to you?”

“To us? They didn’t do anything.” She answered, not giving anything away before she turned away and left. 

“Well that was weird…” Hannah said, picking herself up from the ground and dusting off her pants, looking in the direction Carol had gone. “Surely I’m not the only who’s noticed she’s been less than herself, lately.” 

“Nah, I see it too.” Daryl returned, grabbing Hannah’s hand and heaving himself onto his feet. 

“Was she ever like that before?”

“Like how?”

“I don’t know… she was almost terrified the other day when we got her and Maggie outta that building. I’ve never seen her like that before.” 

“Back in the beginning she wasn’t like she is now… piece ‘a shit husband treated her like a punchin’ bag and their kid, too. Sophia disappeared and got killed and somethin’ changed. She toughened up after that. Did a lot a good things for us… but now… I don’t know. She ain’t like she was in the beginning.” 

Hannah chewed at the inside of her cheek as she thought to herself what could have happened that could have changed the way Carol thought of her life or her very character to the point that it had before she came up completely short. Truth was she didn’t know the woman all that well regardless of knowing she cared about her like she would her own family she’d ever had one that truly deserved it. But as Daryl stepped off of the step and continued to tinker with his bike, Hannah shook herself from her thoughts and looked back down the street, this time seeing Denise and Rosita headed their direction. 

“Popular man, today.” Hannah teased as he bent over the side of his bike and gave his ass a playful pinch, making sure to hide it from the two women now standing behind them. “Ladies.” She smiled, nodding toward them and taking her place on the steps again. 

“I need to borrow Daryl for a day… if that’s okay. And you too, if you want.” Denise said, pointing to a wrinkled piece of newspaper in her hand. 

“Just as long as you return him in roughly the same shape as you found him.” Hannah joked, nodding her answer as Daryl scoffed at her and stood up straight, turning his attention to Denise. 

“Depends on what you need me for.”

“It’s more like where instead of what.”

Hannah looked over at Rosita who stood with her arms crossed in front of her as she waited for Denise to pitch whatever it was she was about to pitch. 

“After I got out of D.C. I just drove, I remember seeing it right when I realized I had no idea where I was going. Edison’s Apothecary and Boutique. It’s just this little gift shop in a strip mall… but if it’s really an apothecary, they had drugs.”

“How do you know they still got ‘em?”

“It isn’t that far, I just wanna check… and you and Rosita aren’t out scavenging or pulling shifts.”

“We’ll go.” He said proudly, nodding toward Denise and Rosita. 

“I wanted to check… I just wanted to help.” Denise added. Hannah perked her head up and gave her a look of question before Daryl could speak for her. 

“How much time you spent out there?” He asked.

“Yeah, are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Hannah added, sitting up straighter. 

“None.”

“Forget it.”

“Terrible idea. I’ll go with them.” Hannah said, standing up. “I’ve worked in hospitals… different capacity, bu-“

“I can ID the meds. I can use a machete now, I’ve seen roamers up close. I’m ready.”

“You good with this?” Daryl asked Rosita before he looked over at Hannah. 

“No.” Rosita answered, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of Denise’s idea. 

“Absolutely not. Denise, seeing a walker up close is one thing but being out there is a complete other.”

“I’ll go alone if I have to.”

“You’ll die alone.” Daryl returned as Hannah took another step forward. 

“I’m asking you to make sure I don’t.”

“Denise, are you absolutely sure you wanna do this? Let us go… tell us what to look for.” Hannah pleaded. 

“No, I’m positive. I don’t just WANT to do this… I HAVE to. I NEED to.”

“If something happens to you-“

“That’s why I want people out there with me. To keep that from happening.”

A loaded silence fell between them and Hannah shook her head, convinced that nothing good could come of this while Daryl looked at Rosita and silently waited for a response.

“I am NOT babysitting her by myself.”

Daryl dropped his head and looked to the ground as he resigned to the idea, scratching at his goatee before he looked up at Denise and Rosita and gave a small shrug of his shoulders. 

“Alright. Meet at the gate in ten.” He finally said just as Hannah shook her head in opposition. 

Angry, Hannah kept her mouth shut as she watched Denise and Rosita turn around and leave while Daryl wiped his hands on his jeans, finally looking over at her from where he stood in front of his bike. 

“You can’t be serious.” Hannah said, giving him a sour look of incredulity. 

“I don’t want her to go neither.”

“So don’t let her.” 

“You hear what she just said, girl?” He asked, raising his voice. “She just sai-“

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me.”

“There ain’t nothin’ I can do ‘ta stop her from goin’. She just said it.”

“Daryl, she’s our only doctor. What do we do if something hap-“

“Hannah, you don’t gotta like it. But you don’t have a choice neither.”

“Letting her go is putting too much at stake, here, Daryl. We can’t… I don’t want to lose anyone else.” 

“I get it. But it’s better she go with someone who knows what the hell they’re doin’ than for her to go alone.” 

Hannah rubbed at the headache behind her eyes and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, shaking her head in annoyed frustration and disappointment that he was right and at least Denise had thought to ask for help than to go out on her own. She sucked in a breath and let it go slowly, turning her neck from one side to the other as she popped her joints, resigned from an argument she wish she would have just dropped before it even started. 

“Alright, well, let me get my guns.”

“Nah. You stay here.”

“What?”

“You stay here. Keep an eye on things. Ain’t riskin’ anyone else.” 

“Daryl-“

“Nah. Ain’t arguin’ anymore. You’re stayin’ here, ain’t nothin’ you can say’ll change that.”

“Bu-"

“We make a good team, yeah. I know. Like I said. I ain’t riskin’ anyone else.”

Hannah looked away as the sting of tears burned behind her eyes and she swallowed them back, wishing it were easier to convince herself that he was right and she was wrong. He stood there without a word and watched the ground before Hannah stepped toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the warmth of his skin. 

“Please be safe.” She whispered, moving to look up and kiss his cheek. 

“It ain’t a long run. We’ll be back before sundown.” 

Daryl held his arms around her for a long moment before Hannah broke away from him only enough to look up at him, sweeping his shaggy dark hair out of his face and giving him a weak, resigned smile before it faded away. 

“I’m sorry if it seems like I’m always trying to argue…”

“Sure you made a hell of a lawyer.” He teased, pulling her closer as Hannah gave him a small laugh. 

“Ha, I did… but… really. I only put up a fight because I really don’t want to lose anyone else. And if it seems like I’m fighting too hard, it’s because I care too hard… Maybe to a fault.” 

Daryl said nothing in return and instead pulled her into a long, warm hug, kissing along the side of her neck before he took a step back to leave. 

“Need a gun?”

“Nah. I’ll grab one.”

He turned to leave and Hannah reached for his hand, stopping him in his tracks and stepping toward him. She pressed her lips to his in a warm, delicious kiss, grasping the edges of his vest between both of her hands to keep him close before he broke away from her, his breath taken away at the taste of her lips. 

“I love you.” He said softly when he broke away from her kiss. "Don't think 'cause I won't let you go I don't want you there. That ain't it at all."

"I know... I just don't like not knowing what’s going on.” 

Daryl said nothing in return and instead kissed her temple and gave her ass a light pat before he turned and left, leaving Hannah alone to figure out what to do with herself and worry.

***

The hours of the afternoon passed swiftly as Hannah made her way over to the wall expansion to take a look at the slow progress that had been made, thankful to see that the last panel had finally been put up to at least keep that section closed from the outside and the wooded tree line. Tobin had been working tirelessly for the past several weeks to get the materials together to finally bolt the pleated metal to the weather worn ironwork and Hannah made a point to thank him, wishing she could be of more help in building than just going on runs to collect materials. After she’d left the area that the new walls had afforded them, Hannah slowly walked around the perimeter of the walls, checking to make sure that everything was holding strong until she finally made her way back to the house, still waiting impatiently for Daryl to return home. 

Hannah made herself comfortable on the front porch curled up in a wicker lounge chair, paying hardly any attention to anything until the gate opened across the wide open area around the pond and an old rusted truck sped up the street, stopping at Denise and Tara’s house down the block. Dropping the book she hadn't cared enough to open yet, Hannah ran down the steps to the street and stopped in the middle, watching as Daryl threw himself out of the driver’s side seat and ran around the back. Her feet hit the pavement hard as she sprinted toward them and looked into the bed of the truck, horrified and devastated at the sight before her. 

“Oh my god…“ Hannah breathed, tears immediately burning at the backs of her eyes as she watched Rosita and Abraham unload Eugene from the back of the truck with a bullet wound on his side. But it wasn't the sight of Eugene that brought tears to her eyes. It was the arrow piercing Denise’s skull and coming out of her eye that broke her heart, even more when she looked over at Daryl as he held his hands firmly on the side of the truck with his head hanging low. 

“Daryl...“ She said weakly, her lip quivering as she silently cried and walked over to the open back end of the truck and climbed in. Hannah gently touched Denise’s cheek and squeezed her eyes shut, hardly able to look at the blood slowly dripping from the tip of the arrow. She cried a little harder and tried not to make a sound, failing as she looked up to see a handful of other people walking up to the truck and straining to look inside it’s bed. 

“All of you. Please.” Hannah said with as strong a tone as she could muster when she stood up. “She’s gone and you need to go home now.” 

Daryl shook his head and walked into the door to the infirmary that was Denise’s kitchen and Hannah slowly covered Denise’s body with an old sheet in the back of the truck, choking back another wave of tears before she jumped down from the truck. She wiped at the tears standing in thick droplets in her eyes and swallowed hard, stepping up into Denise’s house and closing the door quietly to see Rosita finishing up the dressing on Eugene’s side. 

“Rick’s comin’.” Abraham said when he opened the door and let himself in. 

“How is he?” Hannah asked, walking up to the foot of the bed and looking at the bandage. 

“Bullet just grazed him. But it’s a good thing we got ‘em back when we did. Antibiotics we picked up could save him from infection. Save his life… it’s what Denise did.” Rosita said quietly, looking up at Hannah and over at Abraham just as Eugene stirred. Hannah gave him a knowing nod and a small smile as he did the same before she turned around, her eyes immediately looking over at Daryl as he stared out the window. 

“Hey.” She said softly when she stepped up to him and gently took his arm in her hand. “Come on.” 

Daryl turned toward her but refused to actually look at her and said nothing, following her outside and into the truck and heading toward the cemetery. Carol walked along the sidewalk as Daryl and Hannah passed her and Hannah pointed toward the cemetery, bringing her other hand to hold on top of Daryl’s when he turned the corner and cut the engine of the truck. 

“I know you probably don’t wanna say anything… I get it.” Hannah said quietly, looking into her lap. “But I love you… and we’re gonna go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow because that’s what we do now. We have to.” 

A still silence passed between them and Daryl kept his eyes down in his lap while Hannah struggled to keep herself together, wishing it were easier for him to open up to her. She opened up her door and moved to get out of the truck before Daryl took her hand and stopped her, keeping his eyes stuck in his lap as he gave her hand a warm squeeze. He finally briefly looked over at her and let go of her hand, still saying nothing when he opened the door and got out of the truck just as Carol walked up to them, the look on her face worried and disappointed. 

“What happened? Thought it was just supposed to be a short trip to get some meds?” She asked after both of the doors closed. Hannah looked over at her and gently shook her head, knowing Daryl wouldn’t be ready to talk about what had happened for a long time - or maybe ever. She walked to the back of the truck and helped him lift Denise’s body out of the bed of it, carrying her into the cemetery and to lay her on the ground before he picked up a shovel and started digging. Hannah picked up the other shovel to help him before Carol took it from her, giving her a knowing glance and nodding her head toward the foot of the before Hannah sat down and watched them. 

The two of them continued to dig for nearly an hour until the grave was finally deep enough and Hannah got up to help him lower the body inside, watching Daryl’s face turn red as he fought the waves of devastation and hurt at losing the woman who had mended their wounds and had grown to be a good friend to the both of them. He slipped a small keychain he'd taken from her pocket into his and went about covering her with the loose earth, still refusing to say anything while he tried to process whatever it was that had happened outside.

Daryl paused for a moment and took a step back and reached into his pocket, digging out a shot sized bottle of what looked like whiskey and tossed the whole thing back in one long drink. He let the bottle fall to the grass and continued to work all while Hannah’s heart broke into even smaller pieces, wishing she could take his pain away despite knowing he would never let her. 

“You were right.” Carol said after a moment, watching him shut himself off from the both of them. “I knew it when you said it.” 

Hannah swallowed hard and looked away from both of them, fumbling with her shaking hands in her lap before she got up and left them, running back to the house and closing herself off in the bedroom. She pulled off her jacket and threw it across the room before she sat down with her face covered by both hands, anger and hurt boiling in a rancid mess in her stomach as she collapsed into her own lap at the loss of someone who had done nothing wrong. Who had cared and overcome her own insecurities to step up and do what needed to be done after Pete had been killed. 

It didn’t even matter that Hannah had been right from the beginning about not wanting Denise to go out. Perhaps it would have been inevitable. Denise had been upfront with telling them she would have gone regardless if they went with her or not. To that point, it was better that Daryl and Rosita had agreed to go for the simple fact that maybe she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she did. At any rate, at least she had died with people around her who cared. 

The sound of the door closing echoed from down the hall quickly followed by heavy footsteps toward the bedroom just before the door opened and Daryl walked in, setting his crossbow on the dresser. Hannah looked at him and her brow furrowed in confusion when she stood up, looking over at him while he went about taking off his vest and kicking off his boots, still without a single word or even a glance in her direction. 

“Is this because of that fucking prick in the forest? Did he do this?” Hannah asked, her tone shakier than she thought it would be. 

“Should’ve killed the sum’bitch.” Daryl growled, pulling off his shirt and plopping down on his side of the bed. 

“Why would he kill he-“

“‘Cause he was aimin’ for me.” 

Hannah’s blood instantly boiled and she could hardly see straight, white hot rage coursing like battery acid through her veins as she shot up to her feet and nearly cried. She swallowed hard and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, hating herself at just how easily she turned bright red and flustered when she was angry. 

“Did he say why?”

“Nah.” Daryl said while Hannah watched him carefully, wanting him to look at her, even for just a second. 

“Daryl, please.” She pleaded, taking a step toward him. “Give me something.” 

“Prick wasn’t alone. Handful ‘a guys with ‘em started shootin’ from the trees. Couldn’t see ‘em comin’.” 

“Was he looking for you? Why was he even-“

“Wants what we got… an’ it’s my fault.”

“What?” Hannah asked, rearing her head back.

“You don’t remember tellin’ him about this place?” 

“I do, but this isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have kno-“

“Bullshit. I had a choice out there that day. Didn’t make the right one and now she’s dead.”

“Daryl, you couldn’t have known he would come after you. And I'm just as much at fault as you are if you're really taking this in that direction.”

“Are you shittin’ me, girl? I all but invited ‘em that day out there and now look?”

“No, I’m not shitting you. Remember, I had guns he didn't know about. Those two disappeared without a trace. We didn’t tell them WHERE we were from… So it’s on him that he was searching. He lucked out seeing you out there, so you can’t blame yourself for that.”

Daryl didn’t say anything in return and instead rubbed at the side of his face and turned to lay down, staring straight up at the ceiling. Hannah walked into the closet and pulled off her clothes before shrugging into one of Daryl’s warn button up shirts, the sleeves falling past her wrists as she hugged her arms around herself. Back in the bedroom, Daryl had turned onto his side facing away from where Hannah stood and watched him, a heavy sadness pulling at her heart fresh from losing a friend and watching the man she loved struggle with his role in it. Silently, Hannah walked over to lay down with him, bringing her hand to move along his bare shoulder before she kissed the back of his neck and along his shoulder. 

“Can you turn around and look at me please?” Hannah asked softly, moving her hand down his back to hold along his ribs. Daryl remained still for a moment before he finally rolled back and onto his other side to face her, burying his face in the curve of her neck. Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed Daryl’s temple, feeling him finally let go of the shield he’d been holding onto to mourn the loss of someone who no one would ever be able to replace. 

“I’m going to miss her.” Hannah said, her voice hardly more than a whisper as she combed her fingers through his hair. 

The two of them laid there with their arms wrapped around one another and Hannah slowly fell asleep, her head nestled under Daryl’s chin and her hand holding warmly along his side, oblivious to the fact he wouldn’t be there when she woke.


	34. Chapter 34

“Daryl?” Hannah said out loud with her eyes still closed after she woke with a start. The sound of an engine revving out at the front of the house sent panic coursing through her veins and Hannah shot out of bed, pulled on a pair of her jeans and grabbed her jacket from the floor. She stepped into a pair of boots and sprinted down the hall and out the door before her eyes grew wide at the sight of him speeding toward the gate, his crossbow strapped across his shoulders. 

“DARYL!” She yelled, her voice cracking and breaking before she ran down the steps and sprinted toward the gate.

“What the hell is he doing?” Glenn asked as Hannah breezed by them just as Daryl pulled out of the gates.

“Something he shouldn’t.” Michonne said as Hannah slowed down and let go of a quiet sob as she watched him speed off away from Alexandria. She tried to yell out his name again and failed, her voice stuck in her throat as she swallowed hard and shrugged into her jacket, wondering how she hadn’t seen this coming. 

“He’s looking for Dwight.” Hannah said angrily, dropping her hand and checking her pockets for her guns.

“Who’s Dwight?” Glenn shouted as he followed Michonne to the ugly van parked just inside the gate.

“Took us in the woods a few weeks back. He’s the one who killed Denise.” She said, choking back more tears and forcing herself to keep her composure as hot tears fell down her cheeks. She climbed into the van and crouched down to get into the back, kneeling behind the two front seats when Glenn and Michonne shut the doors and started the engine. 

“We’ll find him.” Michonne said with heavy purpose, looking back at her. 

“WOAH! Make room for my freckled ass!” Abraham shouted as he stuck his hands out on the hood of the van. 

“No!” Rosita said, walking up to Michonne’s side of the van. “Cover my watch. You stay.”

“Hey, we should keep numbers here.” Glenn objected. 

“I know where Daryl’s going.” She said firmly as Hannah opened the side door and let her in. 

“Four of us going isn't smart.” He returned, looking back at them. 

“Just go.” Hannah said firmly. “If not to stop him from getting himself killed than at least to do it for Denise.” 

Glenn shook his head and begrudgingly pulled forward, building his speed up and leading them away from Alexandria and toward the woods. Hannah sat back and leaned against the side of the van and closed her eyes, rubbing at both temples as she contemplated what Daryl was capable of doing - and even more on what a group of men anything like the Saviors on the road could be capable of doing to him. 

“He say anything?” Rosita asked, looking directly at her with her elbows resting on her knees. “This morning?”

“No. I woke up and he was gone. Heard his bike start up and I pulled on whatever clothes I could see…” 

“Can’t say I’m surprised he’s going after him.”

“Yeah, well it’d have been nice to know. At least I could have TRIED to stop it… or at the very least go with him. Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.” 

“He wouldn’t even let you go yesterday, you really think he’d have taken you with him?”

“That wouldn’t have stopped me. I understood his point when he had you and Denise with him. But I would never let him do something this stupid by himself.”

The van grew silent as Glenn continued away from Alexandria, Rosita only speaking up when she told him how to get to a set of train tracks. Fog had slowly descended on the morning and Glenn finally pulled over around a group of cars for the four of them to get onto their feet and getting a feel for the surroundings. Hannah ran up to stand in the middle of the tracks and looked from one outstretched side to the other while Rosita and Glenn walked slowly down to her right, Michonne carefully watching the tree line for any kind of movement. 

“That’s where she died.” Rosita said solemnly, looking at a spot on the tracks.

“Alright, so he had to start from here.” Glenn added, looking down at Hannah after she put her knife through the skull of a walker on the ground. She followed Michonne down the embankment and toward the woods and watched as she lifted what looked like a pile of branches to uncover Daryl’s bike. 

“He did.” Michonne said, looking up at the woods. Hannah squeezed her hand around the handle of her knife a little tighter as she swallowed away the sharpening pang of anger, ready to run and go in whatever direction she needed to.

“Which way did Dwight run?” Glenn asked, walking back up toward Rosita and waiting for an answer. 

“Rosita!” Hannah shouted, frustrated with her stalling. 

“We should let him do this.” She said, finally looking away from the stain of Denise’s blood on the train tracks. 

“WHAT?!” Hannah shouted again, her blood instantly boiling and her head pounding. 

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Glenn argued, never looking away from her as Hannah stepped onto the tracks. “We don’t… Maybe him trying to do this makes you feel better about this right now. Maybe they keep knowing more about us than we know about them. Or maybe, Daryl’s gonna get himself killed.” 

Hannah let go of another silent sob as she choked on the knot of fear and anger lodged in her throat, wiping at her tears before she turned back to look up at Rosita. 

“Which way did Dwight run?” Hannah finally mustered up the strength to ask, refusing to let this day end in the love of her life getting killed. 

After a moment to think, Rosita finally nodded toward the same side of the tracks Michonne was waiting on and the four of them ventured into the woods, listening carefully for any kind of movement and looking for anything that looked like it could be him. Hannah lost track of how long they’d been looking until the sight of a large field came through the trees and Rosita picked up her step, the only thing stopping her the sound of an arrow piercing the tree directly to her left. Hannah looked up to see Daryl holding his crossbow and angrily walking toward them, a confusing mix of relief and rage boiling deep in her stomach. 

“Watch the hell out, asshole.” Rosita warned, yanking the arrow from the tree before Daryl yanked it from her hand. 

“Yeah, I did.” He growled, looking up at Rosita before Hannah caught his attention. “You shouldn'tve come! The hell you doin’ out here?!”

“You shouldn’t have left!” 

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Hannah shouted, feeling her chest and throat flush bright red and hot with rage. 

“The hell do you think, girl?”

“Don’t you take that fucking tone with me, Daryl.” Hannah hissed, stepping toward him. 

“You remember what that prick did. When me and you split off from Sasha and Abraham…” He said, looking away from her and over at the other three who likely hadn’t heard the details of what had happened that day in the woods. “He was out there in the woods, in that burned out forest with them girls. Knocked us out, put a gun to our heads. Tied us up… I even tried to help him…” He said furiously, turning to leave. 

“So you think it’s your fault?” Glenn yelled after him, taking a step forward before Daryl turned around. 

“Yeah, I know it is… I’m gonna go do what I shoulda done before.” Daryl answered with too much conviction. 

“Daryl, stop!” Hannah warned, running up behind him and grabbing his arm before he pulled it away. “This isn’t about her… maybe on the surface it is… but it’s not. This is really about what he did to you.What he did to us. About YOU being angry.” 

“She’s gone man. You’re not doing this for her… you’re doing this for you.” Glenn added. Another wave of frustrated tears fell down Hannah’s cheeks and Daryl looked over at her and shook his head almost as if he were really struggling with his decision until he turned to keep going. 

“Man, I don’t give a shit.”

“Daryl, please!” Hannah pleaded, starting toward him until Glenn stopped her, holding his hand on her shoulder gingerly to step past her. 

“Daryl… you need to get back there and figure this out from HOME. OUR home… We need you. And everyone back there needs us right now… it’s- it’s gonna go wrong out here.” 

“We’ll square it… I will.” Michonne said, stepping forward and giving Hannah’s hand a gentle squeeze just to prove she wasn’t alone. “I promise you… BOTH of you. Just come back.”

Daryl looked from Glenn to Michonne and finally at Hannah, a part of him broken as he watched the thick tears falling down her cheeks. She swallowed hard and wiped them away, waiting for him to make the right decision and turn back toward the train tracks. 

“Baby, we have to be smart about this.” Hannah said weakly, her heart breaking that she still couldn’t get through the hardest, angriest parts of his. 

“I can’t.” He said simply, stepping past Glenn. 

“Daryl-“ Glenn pleaded, turning to watch him go.

“Man, I can’t!” Daryl shouted, this time not looking back. 

“I can’t either.” Rosita said, hardly waiting a second to leave behind him. 

“NO!” Hannah screamed, immediately moving to run after him, knowing that if he was going, she would have to go with him. 

“Hannah, stop!” 

“DARYL, NO!” She cried loudly as Michonne caught her arms and held her back, her eyes flooded with tears at the sight of him quickly disappearing into the woods and whatever fate waited for him when he finally found what he was looking for. “LET GO OF ME!”

“HANNAH, STOP!” Glenn shouted, walking up to her and taking her shoulders in his hands, his demeanor almost calm and only lighting the angry fire inside of her hotter and brighter. 

“NO! LET- go of me.” Hannah warned, yanking her arms out of Michonne’s hands and standing up straight, pulling out one of her guns and stepping away from them. “I can’t let him do this!”

“Hannah, you said yourself, we need to be smart about this…”

“I can’t let him get himself killed.” She said as strongly as she could, tears streaming down her face. “I refuse to let him do this alone.” 

But before Hannah could take off after him the sound of a whistle rang through the trees from somewhere toward her right and followed by others that circled around them. Strangers stepped out from behind the trees around them with their guns drawn and Glenn, Michonne and Hannah all lowered theirs, quickly realizing they were outnumbered and outgunned. Hannah looked around at the men surrounding them until she found the very last one, pointing his gun directly at her head with the look of his intent to kill her on the spot before a small, devious smile pulled at one corner of his mouth. The familiar face and blonde hair stared back at her for a brief second before Hannah realized half of Dwight’s face had been burned, the scar tissue wrinkled and rippled up and down and some of it still healing before he took a small step forward and spoke.

“Hi.”

Slowly the group of his men encroached on the three of them and grabbed hard at each of their arms and Hannah struggled to pull away. Thick ties wrapped around her wrists as Dwight walked up to her, lifting her chin up to look her square in the eye with a sickening look of condescension. 

“Well if it isn’t a pleasure meeting you again.” He said, pulling another cloth tie from his pocket. 

“Fuck you.” Hannah hissed slowly right before he thrust the cloth into her mouth and pushed her to the ground on her stomach. She struggled to catch herself before she looked back up at him and kicked at his leg, knocking him on his ass and moving to kick him in his crotch. Three other guns pointed directly at her head and Hannah gave up, another man’s arm grabbing hard to hers and pulling her up onto her feet to shove her further into the woods. 

Hannah looked back behind her to see Michonne and Glenn being pushed behind her, members of the other group pushing them along until they found a clearing even deeper in the forest. They shoved her to sit on the ground and Michonne sat down next to her with Glenn to her right, all of them looking helplessly around them for any sign of Daryl or Rosita. Hannah closed her eyes and lost track of how long they’d been sitting there, swallowing hard at the tears threatening to come to the surface as she worried about what would happen from here. 

The Saviors busied themselves with starting a fire off to the side and Hannah continued to look out into the trees before a distant snap of a twig caught her attention just ahead. Two dark figures slowly stepped into view between a couple of trees and some shrubs and Hannah strained to look around either side of the tree, finally seeing Daryl’s crossbow up and pointed toward the group of Saviors, Rosita standing just next to him with her own weapon pointed and ready. But a third person stepped nearly silently out of the bushes behind him and Hannah’s stomach rolled in sickening terror, watching as Dwight pointed his gun at Daryl’s back. 

“DARYL! NO! BEHIND YOU!” Hannah attempted to yell, her words too muffled by the gag in her mouth for anyone to understand. She shook her head and he took another small step forward, Dwight stepping even closer with his finger on the trigger.

“Hi, Daryl.” 

Daryl looked directly at Hannah and the tears immediately fell as he lowered his crossbow. Rosita raised her hands in surrender as other Saviors moved in on her but Hannah couldn’t look away from Daryl, crying hard and struggling to get to her knees, if only to be closer to the love of her life before a single gunshot split through the still silence around them and Hannah’s world came crumbling to pieces.


	35. Chapter 35

“Get 'em in the truck.” Dwight said casually as Hannah squeezed her eyes shut. 

“N- no!” Hannah cried, her chest, neck and face flushed bright red as she refused to look at the man she’d wished she could have died right along with, her sobs muffled by the gag still lodged in her mouth. “No… no.” 

“Get them in first. So we don’t have to shove him all the way in the back to make room for them.” Dwight ordered again before one of his men grabbed hard for Hannah’s arm and dragged her toward wherever their truck was waiting. 

Hannah looked back at Glenn, Michonne and Rosita behind her, making sure they were coming right along with her before she strained to look behind them, wanting to make sure Daryl’s body wouldn’t be separated from her so she could at least touch him one last time. To feel his skin and run her fingers through his hair before he was truly gone. 

The group led them in a different direction than they had come until the finally reached a road and a cluster of cars off to one side, a large commercial van ridden with bullet holes waiting for them. Dwight shoved Hannah face first into the side of the van and pushed hard at the back of her head, his breath hot and rancid in her face before he tore away the tie binding her hands and yanked open the back door, pushing hard on her back and head to get her inside. 

“All the way up, sweetheart.” He said, giving her a disgusting smile that nearly made her vomit. He'd taken Daryl's vest and slipped it on while she wasn't looking, only making the hurt and angry hotter and more bitter to take. 

Glenn and Michonne were pushed into the van right behind her and Hannah tore off her gag, reaching for each of their arms to help them in before Michonne was pulled back to the opening and two pieces of her hair were pulled from her head. She yelped in pain and immediately pushed her hand to her scalp, looking back and giving the man who’d pulled it a look of warning before she sat back and leaned against the side of the van. 

The two men who’d dragged Daryl’s body through the woods heaved him into the back of the van, both of them grunting at his dead weight and shoving him to the side like he was some kind of bag of garbage. Like he held no value. Like no one loved him. Hannah looked down at him laying there absolutely still and pulled an old ratty blanket on top of him before she flinched when the doors to the van closed to her left, even more tears flooding down her cheeks when she crawled toward him and took his hand. She brought her hand to hold along the side of his face and collapsed onto the floor of the van, giving up every last piece of herself as she lost her will to keep going now that he was gone. 

Hannah cried as she laid there with him, her world taken from underneath her with nothing left for her to keep going for. Daryl had crept his way into her life and changed the way she saw herself. Changed the way she lived, changed the way she loved. Without even trying, he had showed her what it was like to care about something again. She’d seen his broken and beaten heart in that gymnasium so many months before and felt it herself, giving her the chance to finally understand what it was to truly love someone for exactly who they were and know what it was like for them to love her back. He was everything to her, and now she’d lost him. 

Hannah gasped for a breath and let out long silent sob, struggling to breathe or move or control any of the cries that were now escaping from deep in her stomach, her tears falling from her cheeks and into his hair as she held him and felt her heart give up. 

“Daryl…” She breathed, moving over to sit on his side of the van and pulling his head to lay in her lap, hardly able to see anything in the small, dark space. The van rumbled to life and suddenly jerked into motion, racing down the road in whatever direction where Lauren hoped she could find some kind of weapon to kill anyone and everyone she laid eyes on. 

The van continued down whatever road they were on and made various stops as the inside grew darker and darker, the air growing cold as the late afternoon dissolved into night before the van finally stopped for good. Hannah moved her hand to rest on Daryl’s chest and held it above his heart, suddenly taken aback when she pressed a little harder to feel his slow, gentle heart beat. 

“Daryl…” She said in a weak whisper when his hand tightened around hers and he moved his head in her lap. “Oh my god…” 

Daryl lifted his hand and slowly moved his fingers in the thin lines of yellow light now pouring in through the bullet holes. 

“Shoulda listened.” He said weakly before she leaned down to kiss his forehead. 

“Don’t.” Hannah whispered, combing her fingers through his hair just as she heard voices from outside the van. Daryl sat up and leaned against the side of the van, leaving Hannah’s hand wet with his blood when he let go of her.

“You pricks ready?” One of the Saviors said from outside after a few minutes, the doors suddenly opening and a bright light flooding into the back of the van. 

“Come on. You got people to meet.” Dwight said, pulling Daryl from the van and tossing him to the ground before reaching for Hannah and then Glenn. Another one of the Saviors pulled Hannah to kneel just next to the left of Daryl and she looked at the haunting surroundings. Nearly every member of her group sat on their knees to her left with various expressions of shock and terror painted on their faces.

Tears spilled down Hannah’s cheeks as she slowly looked to each person she loved, instantly overcome with the feeling that tonight would indeed be the night that all of it ended. She looked over at Daryl and swallowed back another urge to cry, his skin pale and his body visibly weak as blood continued to ooze out of the bullet hole in his shoulder. His eyes were planted on the ground before he looked up at her, showing her real fear in them for the first time. Hannah took a deep shaky breath and looked back to her left, noticing that Maggie was pale and soaked with sweat, deep red bags under her eyes as she sat back on her heels and shivered. 

“Alright, we’ve got a full boat. Let’s meet the man.” One of the Saviors said, standing in the middle of the clearing before he knocked twice on the RV parked directly in front of them. 

The door opened a few seconds later and Hannah felt her body shake at the man who descended from inside, the look on his face amused and cocky as he held a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. 

“Piss in our pants yet?” He asked to no one in particular, standing there casually in his black leather jacket and deep red scarf. “Boy. Do I have a feeling we’re gettin’ close.” He added, stepping further into the light and walking in front of all of them. “It’s gonna be pee pee pants city here real soon.”

His looked carefully at all of them for a brief second before Hannah caught his attention, his eyes returning to her as he took a double take, giving her a slight smile and turning to the look at the rest of her group again. 

“Which one of you pricks is the leader?” He asked out loud. 

“This one.” Someone said behind Rick. “He’s the guy.”

“Hi. You’re Rick, right? I’m Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people… Not. Cool. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. BUT. I think you’re gonna be up to speed shortly… Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossin’ me in a few minutes… Yes you are. You see Rick. Whatever you do… No matter what, you don’t mess with the new world order- the new world order is this. And it’s really, very simple. So, even if you’re stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand… you ready? Here goes. Pay attention.”

Negan finally brought his bat down off of his shoulder and held it in front of Rick’s face and Hannah shook even harder, watching him lean down closer to emphasize his point. 

“Give me your shit, or I will kill you… Today was career day. We invested a lot, so you could know who I am and know what I can do.” He said calmly, stepping over to stand directly in front of Hannah and Daryl, holding his bat to point at Rick. “You work for me now. You have shit. You give it to me. That’s your job… Now, I know that is- a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow.” Negan continued, turning to look directly at Hannah before looking back at Rick. “And swallow it, you most certainly will… you ruled the roost. You- built something. You thought you were safe. I get it. But, the word is out. You. Are not safe. Not even close. In fact, you are pegged. More pegged if you don’t do what I want, and what I want is half your shit. And if that’s too much, you can make, find or steal more, and it’ll even out sooner or later… THIS. Is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So someone knocks on your door, you let us in. We own that door. You try to stop us, and we will knock it down.”

Negan made sure to look at everyone as he spoke and explained his new reign over the group and Hannah refused to look anywhere but at the gravel ground, ignoring him when he stopped to look at her and wait for her to look up. Daryl sat nearly completely still next to her and she looked over at him, just to make sure he was still up and breathing, a slight wave of relief washing over her that at least he was still alive. 

“You understand?” Negan asked Rick, leaning in close for an answer. “No answer?… you don’t really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished now, did you? I don’t wanna kill you people. Just wanna make that clear from the get go. I want you to work for me. You can’t do that if you’re dead, now can you? I’m not growin’ a garden… But. You killed my people. A whole damn lot of ‘em. More than I’m comfortable with. And for that.. for that you gotta pay. So now. I’m gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you.” 

Hannah swallowed hard and tried to fight the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks, squeezing her eyes shut to force them back and failing when they quickly fell anyway. She looked over to watch as Negan tossed his bat in a circle in his hand, leaning down into Rick’s face once again. 

“This. This is Lucille. And she is awesome.” He said, holding his bat up in front of their faces. “All this. Aaaalllll this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the arm.” He added, slowly pacing in front of all of them again before he stopped directly in front of Abraham and touching the more than five o’clock shadow on his face and moving to kneel in front of Carl. “You got one of our guns. You got a lotta our guns… Shit kid, lighten up. At least cry a little bit.” Negan said, taunting him for a moment before getting back up and walking over to look at Maggie. “Jesus. You look shitty. I should just put you outta your misery right now-“

“NO! NO!” Glenn shouted, lunging forward when Negan leaned back and tossed his bat again before he was immediately stopped and held down by Dwight, Daryl’s crossbow pointed directly at his face. 

“STOP IT!” Maggie begged, tears immediately falling down her face. 

“Nope. Nope, get ‘em back in line.” Negan ordered before Dwight dragged Glenn back to his place. 

“No! No! Don’t!” Glenn cried, sitting back and fighting tears. Hannah looked over at him and bit hard at her lip, wishing she could stop her body from shaking before Negan continued his sickening monologue once again. 

“Alright, listen. Don’t any of ya do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one’s free. It’s an emotional moment. I get it.” He said, pointing to Glenn with cocky smile spread across his face. Hannah finally looked over toward Rick and could hardly look at him, his face painted in dread and tears of his own threatening to fall from his eyes, his hair drenched in sweat as Negan turned to look at him. “Sucks, don’t it. The moment you realize you don’t know shit… This is your kid, right?” He asked, pointing toward Carl. “This is definitely your kid-“

“STOP THIS!” Rick shouted, interrupting Negan mid sentence. 

“HEY! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Do not make it easy on me… I gotta pick somebody. Everybody’s at the table waiting for me to order.” He said, whistling and slowly walking in front of them. “I simply cannot decide. I got an idea…” He added, smiling over at the group before stepping toward Rick and pointing Lucille at him. “Eeny… Meeny… Miny… Mo…” Negan said, pointing Lucille at each member of the group as he went about the old, childsh phrase. “Catch… A tiger… By… His toe…” 

Hannah’s voice left her in a weak, nearly silent whimper as she finally looked up at him, his bat pointed at Daryl’s head and then at her own as she slowly started to accept that tonight would the last time she would see any of her family. That tonight would change everything. 

“If… he hollers… let… him go… my mother told me… to pick… the very… best… one… and you… are…”

Negan paused to point Lucille at each one of them before he made his final decision, taking a step back and looking out at everyone before he finished his nauseating rhyme in front the person he had finally chosen. 

“It.”


	36. Chapter 36

“Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father, and THEN we’ll start… You can breathe. You blink. You can cry. Hell. You’re all gonna be doin’ that.”

A loud crack split through the air as Negan swung Lucille in a fierce downward hit, blood splattering from the top of Abraham's head when he hit the ground. He took a second to get his hands beneath him and picked himself up and Hannah looked down at the gravel, collapsing down on herself and staining to look up as Negan started again.

“OH! Look at that! Takin’ it like a CHAMP!" Negan shouted, his tone mockingly impressed as he looked over toward Hannah's side of the group and back down at Abraham who was now back upright. 

“Suck… my… nuts.” He said in a low, serious voice, blood dripping down the side of his face just before Negan took another hard swing. 

Hannah watched helplessly as tears burned down her cheeks, flinching at the sound of every hard blow to her friend’s head until finally silence fell among the group. The kind of silence that was revolting and heavy, the metallic stench of violent death nearly choking the life out of her. 

“Oooh, my goodness! Look at this!” Negan called out, swinging Lucille around and spraying blood onto Rick’s cheek. “You guys! Look at my dirty girl!” 

Hannah looked back at the ground and then over at Daryl who was still shaking and fought the serious urge to reach for his hand, terrified at the idea of yet another weakness being found and used against them. Her face flushed deep red as she held back the painful sobs sitting just below the surface and she bit hard at her bottom lip, praying somehow she could make it through however much longer Negan would be torturing them with the imminent threat of death. 

“Sweetheart. Lay your eyes on this.” He taunted, holding his bat in Rosita’s face when she refused to look. “Oh damn… were you? Were you together?… that sucks… but if you were, you should know. There was a reason for all this. Red? And hell, he was is and forever be Red, he just took one- or six or seven for the team!” Negan shouted, still holding Lucille in Rosita’s face as she looked to the ground and fought the urge to let anything more than whimper escape from her. “Now take a look… TAKE A DAMN LOOK!”

The words were hardly out of Negan’s mouth before Daryl grunted and got to his feet to swing his injured arm in a hard right hook to Negan’s face. 

“NO!” Hannah cried, looking on in horror as Daryl went after him again before he was immediately tackled to the ground by three of Negan’s men and Negan stepped back up, holding Lucille out to point at the group. 

“NO!” He shouted, giving them a look of warning as Daryl let out several raspy whimpers. “No. No.” He said, looking over at Rick and to Hannah before he turned around and walked in a circle. “That? Oh… My. That! Is a no no. The whole thing. Not ONE bit of shit flies here.” He continued, kneeling down to look down at Daryl as Dwight ran up and pointed Daryl’s crossbow at his head.

“You want me to do it?” Dwight asked, more than ready to kill him as Hannah lost the struggle of crying silently. “Right here?”

Hannah covered her mouth and nearly looked away as Negan grabbed a handful of Daryl’s hair and pulled his head back to get a look at him, her heart shattering at the sight before her and everything that could be taken so quickly and so violently right in front of her eyes. 

“Nah… Nah, we don’t kill that. Not until you try a little.” Negan said with a sickening smile as Daryl panted on the ground, still held down by one of the other Saviors. Dwight lowered the crossbow and grabbed hard for Daryl’s injured shoulder and dragged him back to his place in line, throwing him into the gravel next to Hannah while all she could do was watch. 

“Anyway…” Negan continued, squinting at Hannah as he watched her look over at Daryl with her hand over her mouth to keep the sounds of her sobs quiet. “That’s not how it works… Now, I already told you people. First one’s free.”

“No.” Hannah breathed to herself, the sinking feeling that this time she really would lose him ripping her to shreds as she nearly collapsed. 

“Then what’d I say? I said I WILL SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN!” He shouted, gripping his bat and stepping over to stand in front of them. “No exceptions. Now I don’t know what kinda lyin’ assholes you been dealin’ with, but I’m a man of my word.” He added, facing the rest of the group and before he turned to look directly at Daryl and then to Hannah and then back to the group. “First impressions are important… I need you to know me.” 

Another heavy silence fell among them and Hannah took another shaky breath, her hands and arms trembling at what could, and likely would, happen to the man she loved sitting right next to her. She looked over at him and felt herself become weaker by the second, wishing it could be her to sacrifice herself if it meant that the people she loved could survive this before Negan’s words caught her attention once again. 

“So… back to it.” He said simply, swinging his bat and turning around to hit the man directly behind him. 

Blood splattered from Glenn’s broken skull almost instantly and Hannah covered her mouth, her muffled cries nothing compared to Maggie’s just behind her as she watched through blurry tears as Negan hit him once again. His eye bulged from his skull and his face was covered in blood, his words gurgling from his throat as he trembled and turned to look over at Maggie as she cried out loud. 

“Muhhh-“

“Buddy, you still there?” Negan mused, leaning down to look at Glenn’s beaten, broken skull still gushing with blood. “I just don’t know, it seems like you’re tryin’ to speak! But you just took a hell of a hit! I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out! And it is gross as shit!”

“M- Maggie, I- I’ll fffind you.” Glenn stammered, trying to hold on to whatever was left of his grasp on his life as she shook and choked on his words. 

Hannah finally let herself collapse down to sob quietly into her own legs, her tears quickly leaving dark wet spots on her jeans as Negan continued to taunt the people of her group, rubbing in their faces that he was the one who would be calling the shots anymore and that at any moment, he could so easily take another of their lives for any reason he wanted.

“Oh damn. I can see this is hard on you guys… I’m sorry. I truly am. But I did say.. no exceptions!” He said almost gleefully before he swung his bat back into Glenn’s head and knocked his body to the ground. Hannah cried even harder into her legs as Negan made swing after swing into Glenn’s body before someone’s hand grabbed hard for the back of her neck and yanked her back upright. 

“Nobody gets off easy. Not even pretty little blondes like you. Keep your eyes on the prize.” A deep growl said from over her left shoulder, the man’s hand squeezing hard around her neck and shoving her to the ground, pushing her just a little bit closer to Daryl so that she could at least touch him and get away it. 

Daryl sat slumped over and cried with his hands trembling on top of his legs and Hannah struggled to pick herself up, tears streaming down her face as she tried and failed to ignore the rhythmic strikes of Negan’s bat in the background. She took a deep breath and finally pushed herself to sit upright to look back over at Daryl, every piece of her broken and defeated that the people she loved, including the man falling apart at the seams next to her, could have underestimated these people so horrendously. Hannah looked back over at the rest of the group and cried even harder, watching as Rick shook and stared blankly at the gravel in front of him, sweat still dripping off of him before Negan finally finished his work with Glenn’s body.

“You bunch a pussies. I’m just gettin’ started. Lucille is THIRSTY! She’s a vampire bat!" He said, stepping slowly over to Rick and looking down at him. "... What? Was the joke that bad?” 

“I’m gonna kill you.” Rick said, his voice low and full of dangerous purpose. 

“What?” Negan whispered, crouching down in front of Rick. “I didn’t quite hear that, you’re gonna have to speak up.”

“Not today… Not tomorrow… But I’m gonna kill you.”

“Jesus… Simon. What’d he have? Knife?”

"He had a hatchet.” The man behind Rick said. 

“A hatchet?” Negan mocked with a disgusting smile on his face. 

“An axe.

“Huh. Simon’s my right hand man. Havin’ one of those is important… I mean whataya have left without ‘em?… A whole lotta work. You have one?… Maybe one of these fine people still breathin’?.. Oh. Or did I…" Negan paused and made a knocking sound inside his cheek, holding his blood soaked bat up in front of Rick’s face. “Sure. Yeah. Gimme his axe.” He continued, never looking away from Rick as Simon walked up and handed him Rick’s weapon. Negan stood up and shoved the handle of it into one of his belts a moment later before he grabbed hard for Rick's jacket, dragging him across the open space and toward the waiting RV in front of the group. 

“Be right back. Maybe Rick’ll be with me. If not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won’t we. I mean… the ones that’re left.” He said with a harsh voice as he pulled Rick into the RV behind him.

The area grew quiet around them and Hannah stared straight ahead, listening as the RV's engine struggled to turn over, a muffled shout and the sound of something dropping to the floor inside breaking the silence before the engine finally roared to life and the RV was gone. Hannah took a shaky, deep breath and look around at the remaining broken people of her group, heavy waves of guilt and sadness sweeping through her with each passing second while they waited for Negan to return. 

No one dared speak a single word while they patiently waited and started the tender beginnings of their grief, each of them praying silently that they wouldn't have to lose yet another member of their family. How any of them would handle losing Rick was beyond comprehension and Hannah could hardly deal with even the thought of it, a hard knot lodged deep in her throat and making it hard for her to breathe. He stood for too much, had fought too hard, had risked his life for them. For him to be taken from this world was too difficult to think about and Hannah struggled to keep her mind away from it while they continued to wait. 

Finally, as the early morning grew lighter and the fog started to lift, the RV rumbled back up to the front of the group and everyone waited in silence, still stunned into speechlessness until the door flew open and Rick fell out onto the gravel. Hannah lifted her head to look straight ahead and watched as Negan stepped out and grabbed hard for Rick’s shoulder, dragging him back to the front of the line up and tossing him back into the ground. 

“Here we are.” He announced, still holding his bat in one hand as he watched Rick struggle to pick himself up. “Let me ask you somethin’ Rick, do you even know what that trip was about?” He asked, waiting for Rick to answer “Speak when you’re spoken to.” 

“Okay… Okay.” He said, looking up at him and back at the ground. 

“That trip was about the way that you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand… but you’re still lookin’ at me the same damn way. Like I shit in your scrambled eggs. And that’s not gonna work. So. Do I give you another chance?” He asked, kneeling down next to where Rick sat leaning forward and holding Lucille just next to his head. 

“Yeah… Yes. Yes.” 

“Okay. Alright. And here it is. The grand prize game. What you do next, will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone’s LAST crap day… or just another crap day.” Negan went on when he stood back up after giving Rick a hearty pat on the back. “Get some guns to the backs of their heads.” He ordered, the familiar click of guns echoing through the space before he continued. “Good. Now. Level with their noses so if you have to fire, bugh! It’ll be a REAL mess… Kid, right here.” Negan said, ordering Carl over to him with finger. “Kid. Now.”

Carl reluctantly stood up and stepped up to Negan, still wearing his Sheriff’s hat and looking directly at him. Rick still sat on his knees and leaned on his hands, staring at the ground as he tried and failed to control the shaking of his body. 

“You a south paw?” Negan asked after he pulled his belt from his belt loops. 

“Oh my god.” Hannah breathed to herself, praying no one had heard her. 

“A what?” Carl hissed, his teenage attitude out in full force. 

“Are you a lefty?”

“No.”

“Cool.” Negan nodded, strapping his belt around Carl’s upper arm. “That hurt?”

“No.”

“No…” Hannah said under her breath, bringing one of her hands to cover her eyes. 

“What’d I tell you earlier?” The same deep voice from earlier growled in her ear as his foot kicked hard into her back. Hannah groaned and nearly collapsed at the sudden pain in her back, catching herself with her arm and starting to tremble again as she choked back tears. Daryl looked over at her and a single tear fell down his cheek as she struggled to keep her own tears at bay, hating that neither of them could touch one another, to wrap their arms around each other and tell them this would be over soon. That everything would be okay even if it were just a lie to make them feel better. Hannah closed her eyes and nodded her head gently to him before she finally turned back toward Negan who now standing over Carl laying on the ground with his arm stretched out. 

"Simon. You got a pen?” He asked one of the Saviors behind them before the man threw him a marker. “Sorry kid, it’s gonna be as a warlock’s ballsack just like if he was hangin’ his balls up above ya and draaaags ‘em right across your forearm.” He said, crouching down on his knee and drawing a line across Carl’s arm. 

“Please… please don’t. Please don’t.” Rick begged, sitting up.

“Me? I ain’t doin’ shit.” Negan said, laughing and getting back onto his feet. “Rick. Why don’t you take your axe. Cut your son’s arm off, right on that line… Yeah I know. I know. You gonna have to process that for a second. Makes sense. Still though. I need you to do it. Or all these people die, and then Carl dies. And then everyone at home dies. And then you. Eventually. I’m gonna keep you breathing for a few years just so you can stew on it.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Michonne spoke up, pleading with him. “We understand.”

“You understand. Yeah. I’m not sure that Rick does… I’m gonna need a clean cut line. Now, I know it’s a screwed up thing to ask, but it’s gonna have to be like a salami slice. Nice and clean, 45 degrees, give us somethin’ to fold over. We got a good doctor, the kid’ll be fine. Probably… Rick. This needs to happen. Chop chop. Or. I will crush the little fella’s skull myself.”

“It could be me.” Rick pleaded, shaking his head. “It could be me. You can do it to me. I can go.. with you.”

“No. This is the only way. Rick. Pick up the axe… Not making a decision is a BIG decision. You really wanna see all these people die? You will. You will see every ugly thing… Oh my god. Are you gonna make me count? Ok Rick, you win. I am counting. THREE!”

“PLEASE!” Rick cried, his red bright red and flushed. “PLEASE! IT CAN BE ME! PLEASE!”

“TWO!” Negan shouted, slapping Rick in the cheek. 

“NO!”

“This is it!”

A harsh desperate cry came out of Rick’s throat before Carl whispered to him to do it, the purpose in his hushed tone too much for Hannah to handle as even more tears poured down her cheeks when Rick fumbled with the axe and finally brought it over his head. But before he swung it down, Negan stopped him and crouched down next to him again, the same sickening smile painted across his face while he enjoyed every second of the game he’d been winning all morning. 

“You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?… SPEAK WHEN YOU’RE SPOKEN TO! YOU ANSWER TO ME. YOU PROVIDE FOR ME.” Negan shouted, holding Rick’s face in his hand like he was a misbehaving child.

“P-provide for you.”

“YOU BELONG TO ME. RIGHT?”

“Right.” Rick answered weakly, his breath leaving him in fast, harsh pants.

“RIGHT. THAT. Is the look I wanted to see.” Negan said, pointing at him and getting back onto his feet before he picked up the axe and looked around. “We did it. All of us. Together. Even the dead guy’s on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award for sure… Today was a PRODUCTIVE damn day. Now, I hope for all your sake… that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you? That is over now.” Negan said, looking across the space over to where Daryl and Hannah sat, taking his bat and swinging it in Daryl’s direction. “Ah, Dwight. Load him up.” 

Hannah’s stomach turned and she jerked her head back to watch in total devastation as the man she loved was dragged off of his feet and thrown back into the back of the van. She got back on her knees and reached toward where he was, her voice failing her as she choked on her sobs, unable to make any sound at having to lose him all over again. Not knowing what could happen. Not knowing if she would ever see his precious face again.

“He’s got guts. Not a little bitch like someone I know. I like him. He’s mine now. You still wanna try somethin’, ‘not today not tomorrow, NOT TODAY NOT TOMORROW,’ I will cut a piece offa’… the hell’s his name?” 

“Daryl.”

“Wow. That actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put ‘em on your doorstep. OR, better yet, I will bring him and have YOU do it for me…" Negan said, standing up. "Ah, welcome to a brand new beginning, you sorry shits!”

Hannah collapsed into herself and let go of her fear of being hurt or killed by the men standing behind her, the pain and deep sense of helplessness of losing Daryl far superseding her own will to survive without him. Negan’s mocking voice caught her ear from far in the distance as she drowned out the world around her, too lost in hopelessness to actually listen to what he was saying until his gloved hand grabbed her face and pulled her up to look at him, her tears falling onto his leather gloves as he stared into her eyes. 

“Now wait a minute. It can’t be that bad.” He smiled, looking over at the rest of the group and then back at Hannah. “I mean… it could be worse couldn’t it? I mean, just take a look at Red over here. And the eyeball guy…”

Hannah said nothing and her throat quivered as she exhaled, her body refusing to let her get a grip the longer he made her stare into his eyes. 

“What’s the matter? Everyone else seems to be dealing just fine now… what could possibly be so wrong now that you ca-… oh wait.” Negan taunted, slowly looking over at the closed back doors of the van and back at her, his smile widening. “Him? Seriously?” He asked, incredulously. “Super hot little thing like you with that guy?”

Negan laughed and stood up in front of her, bringing his bat up to rest on his shoulder while Hannah leaned back over to lean on her hands again. He watched her for a minute as he rubbed at the scruff on his cheek and chin, walking in a small circle before he waved his hand at her. 

“Get up.” He ordered, his eyes never leaving her as she sat back and got to her feet to stand defeated in front of him. “What’s your name?”

Hannah swallowed hard and at least tried to get a grip in front of him, feeling her hands continue to shake despite her best efforts to make it stop. 

“Hannah.” She finally said, her voice weak and shaking. 

“Aw, well. Hannah. Tell you what. You do me a favor and I’ll promise to take good care ‘a what’s his face-“

“Daryl. He has a name.” She interrupted, the fear gripping every last fiber of her quickly evolving into a white hot rage she could barely contain. “After all of that, you could at least extend a semblance of courtesy to remember a name for more than two seconds.” She added, her tone full of fierce attitude that she had no control over. 

“OHhhh, would you listen to THAT!” Negan shouted, taking a step back and looking over at Rick with a look of impressed surprise before turning back to Hannah. “Now THAT. Is the voice of a leader. I like that… I like that A LOT. Never woulda guessed it comin' from a girl who was fallin' apart just a second ago.” He added, stepping over toward Rick and leaning over, taking his chin in his hand for him to look at him. “Did you know this chick had that kinda mouth on her? That’s some grade-A leader shit right there, Rick. You ever give him any pointers?” He asked, looking back over at Hannah from where he crouched on the ground next to Rick. “Maybe you should. Maybe it’ll give him some balls to see a girl with a bigger pair than his.”

Hannah stayed silent as she stood and watched Negan stand back up and saunter back toward her, another cocky smile spreading across his face. 

“Now, Hannah… I want you to do me a favor. And, if you keep your end of the deal, I promise to take good care of my man Daryl in there. Think you can do that?”

Hannah watched him cautiously and gave away nothing, hoping that the look on her face wasn’t nearly as terrified and broken as she felt. 

“It’s simple I promise. All I want? Just keep an eye on that guy right there.” He said, pointing at Rick. “Keep him on his toes and get those ‘I’s dotted and those ’T’s crossed. Make sure I’ve got some good shit to pick up when I come and pay you guys a little visit… Do you think you can do that? You look like the type ‘a girl that can do that. The kind that gets. Shit. Done.”

Hannah nodded and swallowed hard, fighting the frightened tears burning behind her eyes and the devastating weakness sitting just below the surface. 

“Good. Girl.” He said, giving her what he probably thought was a smile that could melt a heart under any circumstance as he backed away. “We’ll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then, ta ta.” Negan finally said, tossing Rick’s axe to the ground behind him and loading himself into a car, leaving just as fast as he’d he’d appeared. 

Slowly, the rest of the Saviors followed Negan’s car down the road and out of sight, leaving them broken and empty in the woods in an unbearably heavy silence that made every piece of them hurt. The early morning fog started to lift and the dust stirred from the cars and trucks settled slowly around them, their cries soft and hardly any louder than whispers while they all reeled from everything they’d just witnessed. From everything they’d just lost.


	37. Chapter 37

Hannah remained absolutely still as she stared absently out toward the rest of the woods and could hardly listen to any of the people starting to speak behind her, every part of her broken and struggling to cope with everything she'd just witnessed. Her mind was dazed and lost and her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest and taken right along with the Saviors to where ever they called home. And as much as she wanted to turn to her group and hold every last one of them, the remaining shattered pieces of her heart wouldn't let her move in any direction but forward as she walked toward the road and turned to look toward where the Saviors had gone. 

She stood there in total devastated awe and let the tears silently pour down her cheeks before she collapsed to the ground on one of her hips, leaning weakly on her arm and holding her other hand over her eyes. Soft, quiet sobs left her for what seemed like ages and she started to tremble again before the sound of footsteps approached and stopped directly behind her, a hand gently squeezing her shoulder. 

Hannah fell back and laid on the ground with her eyes covered, tears dripping down the sides of her face as the weight of the world she’d grown so used to crumbled on top of her. 

“Sasha’s takin’ Maggie to the Hill Top.” Rick’s voice said after a long moment, sounding just as weak and broken as she felt. “You should come home with the rest of us.”

“This is where I lost him.” She cried, turning her head toward the direction Daryl had been taken. “This is where I need to be lost.” 

“No. Hannah.” Rick said, taking her arm in his hand. “No.”

“Where do we go from here?” Hannah cried again, unsure if she could ever move past the vast emptiness swallowing her whole. 

“Home." Rick answered, sounding far more sure of his answer than he possibly could have felt. 

“He was my home… how do I do this now?” She asked, finally looking up at him through her tears. 

“I don’t know.” Rick said simply as she sat up and crossed her legs in front of her, holding her head in both of her hands. “We just do, I guess.” He added, leaning down to look directly at her. “For them. We have to.”

Hannah swallowed hard and Rick helped her onto her feet before pulling her close and hugging her tight. She immediately choked back another wave of tears and stepped away from him, slowly walking toward one of the trucks that the rest of the group had loaded what remained of Abraham and Glenn into and looking over at the two women who stood silently staring at everything they’d lost, too. Hannah walked up between them and brought her arms around their shoulders, bringing them both in for a long, devastating hug. 

“You go back. Make sure Alexandria’s taken care of.” Maggie finally said when she stepped back. 

“I’ll come and see you. Make sure you’re alright.” Hannah said softly, holding Maggie’s cheek in one hand and turning to Sasha. “Take good care of her.”

Sasha nodded in return and the three of them held one another for a long moment, tears pouring from their cheeks before Maggie and Sasha stepped away and climbed into the cab of the truck, it’s engine rumbling to life, leaving the rest of them there to get into the RV and head toward the home that Hannah dreaded returning to. The memories of every moment she’d spent with Daryl laced in the home they’d grown into just waiting to break her into an even bigger, shattered mess. Hannah sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to be stronger than she knew she could as the RV started and Rick lead them back to Alexandria in silence.

The group slowly stepped out of the truck just after the gates behind them closed and Hannah said absolutely nothing to any of the other members of Alexandria as they approached. She wiped away the stream of tears that hadn’t stopped in what felt like hours and started to run toward the house, her speed quickly building to a sprint as she lost control of her tears and burst through the door into the house. The door slammed behind her and she stood in the middle of the kitchen, nearly collapsing to the floor with the magnitude of guilt and rage and heartbreak weighing heavily on her shoulders. 

She took a moment to look around at the stillness of the house and slowly walked down the hallway ahead of her to open their bedroom door, instantly missing Daryl more by the second at the sight of their still rumpled sheets from the morning before. Hannah turned to look at the closet door standing halfway open and slowly stepped toward it, walking to the corner and sliding down the wall to fold her legs into her chest and wrap her arms around herself.

There was nothing to be said or thought about now. Everything now that Daryl was gone meant there was only one thing to do, at least for the time being, and that was to cope. Hannah buried her face in her legs and let herself become lost, trying and failing to find some kind of thought of promise or hope that somehow she could get him back. That she could in some way, convince Negan to let him go. Or that she could kill him herself and take the man she loved more than life itself and bring him back where he belonged. 

But none of that could happen. At least not yet. None of it would be possible if she reacted only out of rage or upset. If she would get him back, she had to be smart. If Negan insisted on playing this kind of game, then Hannah would play right along with him. In the years she’d spent in a broken family before she finally got out on her own, she’d learned that in order to survive, sometimes you had to play along until you could find the opportunity to make something happen. And as Hannah sat there for what could have been hours or days curled into herself, she decided that was exactly what she would do. As much as Negan believed with all of his might that he would always have a strong hold over Rick and Alexandria, Hannah promised herself he would never have that over her. She would play along with his fucked up game as long as she had to until she could finally do what she had to to get Daryl back and bring him back home. 

The sound of footsteps moved slowly through the house outside as Rick and Michonne and Carl came home, the sound of voices coming softly from under the doors until a knock came to her bedroom door. 

“Hannah?” Someone asked as Hannah sniffed and wiped her tears away, unsure of who it was and knowing it wasn’t Rick or Michonne. Footsteps moved closer to the closet just before the door slowly opened and Aaron’s face appeared just inside the door, his expression gentle and understanding as he stepped toward her sit down with her. 

“We can do this.” He said softly after a while, looking down at the floor ahead of him. 

“Can we?” Hannah asked, turning to look at him. “Will what he have… or what we find be enough?”

“I don’t know. But we can manage… at the very least, we can manage.” 

“I don’t know that we could manage anything that fucking prick throws at us… I seriously doubt a guy like that would let up even if we gave him everything we had.”

“There are things to figure out. I’m not saying there aren’t. But… we can’t let this be it for us. For Abraham. And Glenn… Da-“

“Don’t.” Hannah said weakly, stopping him and choking back the tears sitting just below the surface. “Please don’t.” She added, turning toward the wall and swiping away the tears that had forced their way to fall from her eyes. 

Aaron brought his arm to wrap around her shoulder and pulled her in to hug her close, soft cries escaping from her no matter how much she didn’t want them to. The loss was still too fresh, the wound still too painful to not lose it at just the very thought or mention of Daryl’s name. Hannah turned toward Aaron and fell into his embrace, letting go of the tears once again and grabbing onto his jacket, wishing it could all be so different. But having him here, showing her that somehow they could make it was worth more than words would ever rightfully describe. 

“I’m going to get him back.” Hannah finally said as she leaned her head against Aaron’s shoulder. “One way or another.”  
Aaron looked over at her with his arm still holding her shoulder and Hannah lifted her head up to look back, not caring how stupid or crazy he thought it sounded. Her resolve to make this happen was too strong to be held back by anyone else’s doubt. 

“I don’t know how… but somehow. I will. I have to.” She said weakly, leaning back against the wall and staring straight ahead. 

“We.” Aaron said simply, never looking away from her before she turned to look at him again. “We will get him back.” He continued with a small, weak smile. “We stick it out as long as we can. Do what we have to. And somehow… WE. Will get him home.”

“I just…” Hannah paused, fighting the ball of hurt and worry lodged in her throat. “I just hope whatever it is Negan does to him doesn’t… doesn’t change him to the point the he won’t let me love him… that he won’t let me in.” She struggled to say, swallowing hard at all of the understanding they’d fought each other so hard for. “It was hard enough before…”

“How do you mean?” Aaron asked gently, watching her struggle with her emotions. 

“I never told you how we met, did I?” 

“No… no you didn’t.” 

“There was a girl he really cared about… Maggie’s sister. And I don’t really know what kind of relationship it was. I don’t need to know… I don’t necessarily want to. But she died. Shot in some kind of stand off down in Atlanta and… he blamed himself for it. He found me alone shortly after that. I'd found a school just outside the city and he happened on it. Alone. Crying. Hungry… but I couldn’t let him just- go off alone after dark like he was going to do. I couldn’t. So he stayed. And we… well... I'm sure you get it. Anyway. Days and weeks go by and we come here and things between us just. You know… We love each other. I’ve never… he’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. But when we got here... When shit started to settle down for us, we argued. We both come from broken childhoods. Abuse, neglect. That kind of thing... But we argued. I wanted him to know he could be open with me. I saw the scars on his back and I knew exactly what they were from. So I asked him about them and we fought… But eventually, after I told him I knew what being in a home like that was like, eventually he told me… But it was hard enough getting him to that point… I love him... I love him more than anything... But he pushes everything inside himself. Tucks it away hoping no one else can see it. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want anyone else to think he's weak for feeling. Or maybe because he doesn't want to bother anyone else. I don't know. But I just hope, with everything I have, that whatever Negan does to him, it doesn’t push him back to that.” 

It had taken everything Hannah had to look back at everything she and Daryl had been through. All of the words they’d shared and struggles they’d had were what had given them the strength to love one another. To be loved back. And knowing she couldn’t know what Negan had in store for him or what to expect if she could actually get him back was what made all of this so much harder. 

“Whatever happens. Whatever he does. We’ll get him back… and we’ll prove to Daryl he can get through this. That we can help him through this. YOU. Can get him through this.” 

Hannah let herself fall back to lean against Aaron’s shoulder and closed her eyes, exhaustion pulling at every muscle in her body before Aaron spoke again. 

“You need rest… We all do. Maybe we take a couple days. Get ourselves together, get our strength up. And after that we go out. Scavenge what we can before Negan gets here.”

Hannah nodded her head slowly and Aaron heaved himself up to stand before he offered her his hand, helping her up and walking back out into the bedroom. She sat down at the foot of the bed and leaned down to rest her elbows on her knees, sweeping her hair back as Aaron stepped toward the door to leave. She reached for his wrist and stopped him, looking up and fighting tears once again. 

“Thank you.” Hannah said softly, blinking away the sting of tears. “I mean it.” 

“We’ll get through this.” Aaron said, giving her a gentle nod and taking her hand in his and giving her a warm squeeze. “Get some rest.”

Aaron was gone a moment later and Hannah laid back on the bed, feeling more alone by the second before she stood up and walked back over to the closet. She looked through the clothes hanging on either side of her and grabbed for one of Daryl’s shirts, pulling it off of it’s hanger and setting it on the bed. Hannah pulled off her clothes and left them in a heap on the floor and pulled on Daryl’s shirt, hugging it tight around her body before she slowly crawled into bed. 

The covers were cooler than usual and the bed felt nearly as empty as she did, Daryl’s absence only growing more and more difficult as she curled herself up into their blankets and hugged his pillow. His natural scent danced around her nostrils and Hannah let herself cry once again, losing track of the passing hours until she finally fell into an uneasy sleep she wasn’t so sure she would have the strength to wake up from.


	38. Chapter 38

“You okay?” Michonne asked, stepping to the edge of the porch. Time had passed slowly over the three days after they’d returned home and Hannah hadn't done much of anything but rest and get ready for the run she was about to go on with Aaron. The morning was young and the sun barely filtered over the trees as she walked down the front steps where Hannah had been sitting for who knew how long looking out at nothing in particular with a cup of coffee that was now nearly ice cold. 

“Surviving. Where’re you headed?” Hannah asked, looking over at her to see her sword strapped to her back and a heavy blue duffel bag clutched in her hand. 

“Going hunting. See if I can find anything out there.” 

“You want me to come with you? You’re not the greatest shot from what I hear.”

“No. It’s okay. I’d rather go alone.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Aaron and I are going on a run tomorrow… so you can go, then, too. If you want.” Hannah offered, pulling the blanket wrapped around her shoulders a little tighter. “I know I’m just trying to stay distracted… so if you need a little more distraction.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Michonne said gently, nodding her head and turning toward the gates. 

Hannah watched as Michonne opened the gates and disappeared outside the walls and wondered if she was truly going out to hunt, knowing that nothing was ever that simple. She stood up a little while later and let herself back into the house, setting the empty coffee mug in the sink and busying herself with getting herself dressed to look like she was at least trying. 

“Morning.” Hannah said gently as she walked back out to the living room and saw Rick standing at the kitchen window. 

“Morning.” He returned, handing Judith over to Carl after he’d joined them from upstairs. 

“Michonne just left… figured I’d go walk around and make sure everything’s alright around the walls.”

“I saw… Mind if I join you?” Rick asked, looking over at her from where he stood. 

“Sure.” She answered gently, reaching around her side to make sure her gun was still tucked into the jacket pocket no one seemed to know was there. 

Rick turned for the door and pulled it open, waiting for Hannah to walk outside as he followed her out to the street and toward the rest of Alexandria. But the distant rumble of an engine caught both of their attention before either of them could say anything to the other, the sound of the gates opening followed soon after and the both of them turned to look behind them, the shadow of a man with his baseball bat standing along the cloth on the gate before Spencer opened it all the way. 

“Shit.” Hannah hissed as Negan stood with his bat leaning on his shoulder after pounding on the bars. “He said a week, didn’t he?”

“Sure did.” Rick said in nearly a growl, turning and walking toward the gate. Hannah followed close behind him and stopped just inside the gate, looking in angered fear at the collection of trucks standing just outside. Negan looked at both of them with his same disturbingly cocky smile and gave Hannah a sickening wink as he turned his attention away from Spencer. 

“Well, hello there.” Negan said, looking from Rick to Hannah and back as she stepped in front of Rosita. “Do not make me have to ask.”

“You said a week. You’re early.” Rick said simply, reaching for the front gate and pulling open. Hannah stood back with her arms folded across her stomach. 

“I missed you.” Negan said, turning to look at Hannah again. “And don’t worry, I missed you, too. Hannah… See? I can remember a name.” He added, the sound of a walker catching his attention from behind as it snuck it’s way between the trucks and toward the gate. “Oh. Rick. Come out here. Watch this. CALLIN’ IT.”

Negan turned around and swiftly knocked Lucille into the head of the walker with a hearty grunt and laughed, clearly amused and proud of himself. 

“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Alright, everybody! Let’s get started.” He said, turning to look over at the crowd of his men standing along the sides of the wall underneath the steel support beams. Hannah leaned all of her weight onto one hip and looked away, not wanting to look at them for longer than she had to until Rick’s hand reached over and blindly swatted at her arm to catch her attention. She turned to look back over at the group of people gathered along the wall before all of the air left her lungs and the sting of tears immediately burned behind her eyes. 

Daryl stood uneasily just behind Dwight’s shoulder in a pair of ratty, tan colored sweatpants and sweatshirt with the letter ‘A’ spray painted in orange across his chest. His face was bruised and dirty and his hair was oily and stringy while he stood there blinking away his own difficulty at seeing the people he loved in the place he called home. Hannah swallowed hard and couldn’t help but take a step forward before Rick reached over and stopped her, recognizing that she wouldn’t have stopped if he hadn’t. 

“Hey Rick. You see that? What I just did? That is some SERVICE. I mean, we almost get turned away at the gate. Who is that guy, anyway? Do I get mad, do I throw a fit? Do I bash some ginger’s dome in? NOPE. I just take care 'a one of these dead pricks that coulda killed one a’ y’all.” Negan went on, making a dramatic hand gesture as he pretended to bow. “Service.” 

Hannah kept her eyes glued to Daryl who was struggling to look up at her and Negan stepped over toward where Rick and Hannah stood before he leaned in close to her. 

“Still looks good, don’t he?” He asked quietly, looking over at Daryl and back at her. “I’m sure you’d jump his bones right now if I’d let you, right?” 

Hannah refused to look at him, knowing he was just waiting for her to make eye contact so he’d know that what he was doing was killing her. 

“Aw, come on. Lighten up. He’s still alive and breathin’. Give me a little credit, I made you a promise. Like I said before, I’m a man a’ my word.”

She gave away nothing and made a point to control her breathing as much as she could, feeling her hands start to shake as she struggled to keep herself from grabbing the hidden gun in her jacket pocket and putting a bullet in his brain. 

“Now, where’s that sparkling wit you had the other day? I come aaaall the way out here looking forward to what you might have to say and you give me nothing?… Now, I have to say I’m a little disappointed-”

“What would you like for me to say that won’t get me killed? Or him?” Hannah asked, nodding toward Daryl. “Or any of us for that matter?” 

“That right there… is a good question.” Negan said with a widening smile as he took a step back. and looked back over at Rick. “Hold this.” He added after a short laugh escaped from him, handing Rick his bat and walked past the both of them. 

“Prick.” Hannah said under her breath while Rick just stood there, sneering in fierce rage at Negan’s audacity to make him hold onto the weapon that had so violently taken two of their own from this world. 

Rick dropped Lucille’s weight down in his hand and the rest of the Saviors moved toward the gates, all of them crowding in towards them. Hannah followed along with Rick, making sure to only take brief glimpses of the prisoner Negan had made out of the man she loved so she wouldn’t break down right there in front of them all. 

“Hot DIGGITY DOG!” Negan called out, marveling at the community in front of him. “This place is magnificent. An embarrassment of riches, as they say. Yes sir, I do believe you’re gonna have plenty to offer up.” He said, looking back at the both of them before turning back to look at their community. Hannah swallowed hard and looked over at Daryl as he stood uneasy and weak off to the side next to Dwight, wanting nothing more than to walk up to him and wrap her arms around him. To take him home and let him rest in her arms so she could never let him go. She kept her arms folded across her body and raised one of her hands to cover her mouth, not caring if anyone saw her tremble with fear and heartbreak. Daryl kept his eyes on the ground in front of him and Hannah knew it was for the very reason she’d tried to avoid looking at him herself. He was weak enough already, he was already their prisoner. If he had shown anymore weakness by looking over at her, who knows what Negan would do to torment them further. 

“Daryl, hey. Hey.” Rick said, turning to step toward him before Negan spoke up to stop him. 

“No. NOPE.” He said, walking toward Daryl in front of where Rick and Hannah stood. “He’s the help. You don’t look at him. You don’t talk to him. And I don’t make you chop anything off ‘a him… same goes for everyone. Right?” Negan continued, walking up to Rosita and leaning in close to taunt her. He turned around to look over at Hannah as she fought the overwhelming need to cry, choking back her tears before he stepped toward her and leaned down to look her in the eye, slowly inching closer to her face. 

“Do you get some kind of boner doing this?” Hannah quietly hissed, refusing to step back and looking directly at him, finally getting a hold of herself. Negan stood bolt upright and his mouth stood open, an amused smile pulling at the corner of his mouth when he looked over at Daryl and back at her. 

“My GOODNESS. THAT’S what I came here for! Daryl, has she always had that kinda mouth on her?” He asked him, looking over his shoulder at him and waiting for him to answer. “Speak when you’re spoken to.”

“Yeah.” He said with hardly a sound, his voice hoarse and gritty and hard to hear as Hannah swallowed hard again at the overwhelming need to hold him. 

“Hannah, you and I would get along so well if you’d just get over what’s happened-”

“No.” She said, looking up at him and fighting the look of disgust threatening to paint itself across her face. 

“No?”

“No. I’ve been with men like you before.”

“Surely you don’t mean Daryl over there? ‘Cause it looks to me we’re vastly different.”

“No. He’s a better breed than you. I mean, I've been in groups with men like you... and I killed the last man who thought he could take everything he found and control everyone around him.” 

“Now there’s the girl I remember!” Negan taunted, turning around in a small circle and looking over at Daryl. 

“If you have a problem with something I say, you can take that up with me. Daryl has nothing to do with my attitude.” Hannah added, looking directly at Negan with her arms crossed. 

“Rick.” He said, never looking away from her. “You takin’ notes? ‘Cause this is straight outta How-To-Grow-A-Pair 101.” Negan added, taking a step back and giving Hannah the same cocky smile from before. “And just for that, I might just listen.”

Hannah remained absolutely still and looked back over at Daryl while Negan stepped over to Rick, her heart breaking even more when he looked up at her briefly. She gave him a gentle nod and hoped that it told him everything he needed to hear so that he would know this fight wasn’t over. That he knew that somehow she would get him back here for good. 

“Alright.” Negan finally spoke up, stepping toward the rest of the community. “Let’s get this show on the road. See what kind a goodies you got in the cupboard.”

“We decide half the supplies…” Rick said, turning toward him. 

“No, Rick. No… you don’t decide what we take. I do.” Negan returned as Hannah took a step forward and stopped. “Arat.” He added, before a female’s voice called out behind them for the Saviors to move forward. 

Hannah and Rick stayed put with Negan and a handful of other Saviors, neither of them sure what to make of their home being searched and raided for god-only-knew what. 

“They’re just gonna search the houses a bit. Keep the process movin’.” Negan said, watching his men move forward. “Alright. You gonna show me around or not?”

Rick stood there with his jaw flexing in rage and Hannah reached over to grab his arm, squeezing it in an attempt to warn him to tread lightly, knowing that what he wanted to do was so far out of the realm of possibility despite how capable he was of doing it. She let go just before Negan turned around and gave her a small nod of his head, finally stepping forward and moving toward the road that led toward the community. 

Hannah stood for a moment to give them some space and watched as Daryl started after them, keeping his eyes on the ground before she stepped behind him. She looked around behind her to see the rest of the Saviors had moved in other directions throughout the community and breathed a sigh of relief that no one was watching so that she could at least be close to him. 

“Baby, I’m gonna get you home.” She whispered as she looked down at his feet and fell in step just behind him on his right. “I promise.”

Daryl looked at her over his shoulder and kept moving, both of them struggling to make it seem like they weren’t focused on the other.

“I don’t know how, but I will.” Hannah added, looking in his direction and past him so as not to catch anyone’s attention. 

“Don’t get killed.” Daryl finally said, his voice low and deep in his throat before he looked over at her and kept moving. 

Negan and Rick stopped up at the cross of two streets ahead and Hannah and Daryl caught up with them just before Negan started again with his nauseating taunting. 

“Now this is the kind thing that just tickles my balls! A little cooperation, and everything is pleasant as punch. You see we really are reasonable people once you get to know us. Honest.”

Hannah and Rick and Daryl all stopped in front of a row of houses and watched as countless Saviors carried out their random contents that ranged from chairs to keyboards, one of them setting a cooler on the sidewalk. Negan helped himself to a drink inside and drank it in one long gulp, tossing his trash on the ground as Hannah sneered at him with a nasty grimace that he winked at. 

“Damn, I love this place.” 

“Negan. Something you might wanna see.” One of his men said, walking up to them with Deanna’s video camera in hand. 

Hannah shook her head and stepped forward, keeping her arms crossed over her body while she watched as Saviors carried mattresses out of their homes while Negan opened the screen of the camera and pressed play. 

“Well, well well. What do we have here? I got my fingers crossed for a little freaky deaky.” He teased just before Rick’s voice came from the small speaker of the camera, Rick himself staring blankly ahead of him with puffy red eyes and tears nearly falling down his face. “Jeeeesus. Is that you underneath all that man bush? Shiii-ut. I would not have messed with that guy.” Negan continued, stepping in front of Rick and holding the camera up to his face. “But that’s not you anymore, is it? NOPE. I really gotta shave this shit… whatever happened to that sick girl? That seemed like a stressful night for her, the way she was carryin’ on, she was married to number 2, right?… Careful. Careful how you’re lookin’ at me Rick.” 

Rick kept his eyes on Negan for a long moment before he finally looked away, the expression on his face changing from one of infuriated warning to a saddened resolve, staying silent before Negan once again continued.

“Widows? Especially ones that look like that? Phew. They are special. I love ‘em. Right after their husbands go, they are just- empty inside… But usually not for long. Hahaha ahhhh. Where is she? I would love to see her.”

Hannah turned to watch Daryl as he stood there in total defeated silence, wishing more than anything she could just touch him. Just to feel his skin against her hand, even for just a moment as Father Gabriel stepped up to their group behind Negan. 

“Do you care to pay your respects?” Gabriel asked with a smile, his hands folded around his bible and taking Negan by surprise. 

“HO-LY CRAP. YOU are creepy as shit, sneakin’ up on me wearin’ that collar with that freaky ass smile.”

“My apologies. I’m Father Gabriel.”

Negan scoffed and turned back to look at Hannah and Rick, not wanting to believe his eyes and the fact that they had a pastor living within their gates. 

“She didn’t make it?” He asked, looking from Rick to Hannah and back. Neither of them said anything to answer him and Hannah carefully looked over at Gabriel, giving him a small nod of approval. 

Rick stepped away and headed toward the cemetery and Negan followed as Gabriel nodded back to Hannah before they went along with them, Daryl falling in step just behind her. The group made their way between the houses and the wall and Hannah watched carefully to see when Negan turned the corner into the small yard of their dead before she turned to look directly at Daryl, despite knowing that at any moment another Savior could come around the corner and catch her doing exactly what Negan had warned Rick not to. 

“Are you okay? Are they feeding you?”

“He catches you and he’ll kill you.” He said roughly, moving to step around her before she stopped him. 

“A yes or a no is fine.” She said softly, taking his hand gently in hers and giving him a warm squeeze. 

“Yes.” 

“Good.” Hannah said as they got closer to the cemetery. “SHIT!” She hissed loudly, letting go of his hand and limping carefully around the corner to see Negan and Rick looking at a grave that hadn’t been there the day before. Rick looked over at her and gave her a look of concern when she walked uneasily toward where he and Negan stood, thankful that she’d chosen the same foot she’d injured months before so it wouldn’t seem contrived. 

“Did you twist your bad one?”

“Almost.” She said, walking over toward Gabriel and holding her hand against his shoulder so she could lean down and lift her ankle to take a look at it. Negan watched her carefully and looked up at Gabriel who was watching her as well before she put her foot back down and pretended to test her weight on it, turning her attention back to the man she hated more than anyone else who now at least seemed to have bought her story. 

“A damn tragedy. That’s what this is… this must really suck for you guys.” Negan said, looking back down at the plot in front of him. “Number one, that was on me, no choice there, lessons HAD to be learned… but number two? That didn’t need to happen. Daryl there, he forced my hand. Probably put her right on her back.” He continued as Hannah stepped across from him and Daryl, catching a glimpse of Gabriel casually dusting off his hand. She shook her head at what Negan had just said, knowing the guilt Daryl already felt on his shoulders would crush him without Negan saying it out loud. 

“Damn. I was gonna ask her to come back with me.” Negan said as Hannah gave him a look of disgust. “Oh, I know what you’re thinkin’. How could I have a shot? Guy that just bashed her husband’s head in… You’d be surprised. Boy people, they-“

Negan stopped mid sentence just as a gun shot pieced the quietness in the distance. Hannah looked toward where the shot had come from and her stomach dropped, hoping it hadn’t come from the house where she knew Judith was napping. Negan said nothing and stepped past him, walking toward the block of houses where they lived and turning toward the porch where several Saviors stood looking out and waving toward him. Hannah breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it hadn’t come from their house but couldn’t fight the nerves in her stomach when Negan walked toward the infirmary’s door and into the kitchen. 

“Time to teach a new lesson, I think.” Negan said as he stepped up to the door after Rick went inside. Hannah stayed behind and sat down on the second step, resting her elbows on her knees while Daryl stood to her left, absolutely quiet and stuck in his own head. She looked around and watched as Negan’s men walked casually down the streets of her home and swept her hair back with one hand, leaning her head to look at Daryl and feeling her heart break even more as she fought the urge to pull him close. 

“You know you can’t listen to what he says.” She whispered, checking behind her to make sure no one was in earshot. “None of us blame you…”

Daryl looked up at her from the ground and another piece of her died at the look of devastation painted across his face. She knew he couldn’t say anything but she would have given anything to hear his voice, even his simple ‘hm’ of an answer that he’d used that usually grated on her nerves. Anything to hear his voice. Anything to feel his skin against hers. Anything to make him feel like he was home. 

“We know this is his fault.” She added softly, looking down at the ground by his feet just before the door opened and people poured out of the house. She watched them all walk down the steps around her and she stood up to follow behind the last one, Daryl falling in step behind her and briefly touching her back between her shoulders. Hannah choked on another wave of tears and crossed her arms, feeling herself crumble under the pressure to be stronger than she knew she could be knowing that he would soon be gone again. She looked up ahead and watched as the group headed toward Olivia’s house and she stopped in her tracks, giving Daryl a sad look and turning back toward their home. Realizing she couldn’t get away with having her gun tucked in her pocket forever, she couldn’t go with them in case they decided to search her clothes for the gun she had never told anyone she’d kept from the moment they got here. She had to go back home, only relieved in the sense that she didn’t have to watch Daryl go, heartbroken that her goodbye would be just as painful as the one only a few days before. 

“I love you.” She said softly so no one but him could hear her, a tear slipping down her cheek. “Please. Hold on to that.” 

Feeling him watch her walk away, Hannah let go and sobbed softly all the way back home, closing the door quietly when she let herself in to see the house had been stripped of the most random things. Some of the walls were empty and many of the books had been taken, multiple chairs and pieces of furniture were now missing, leaving the house feeling almost as empty as Hannah did as she slowly walked down the hallway and opened the door to her and Daryl’s bedroom. 

The bed had been taken and she cried even harder, looking over to see their blankets and pillows had been left in a messy pile on the floor and the bare nightstands that no longer had lamps sitting on top of them. She slipped out of her jacket and pulled the gun out of the hidden pocket inside, looking for anyplace out of the obvious places she could hide it in the chance she might need it in the future. Taping it to the underside of the sink in her and Daryl’s bathroom, she closed the vanity door and said a meaningless, silent prayer that no one would find it and walked back out to the bedroom. Hardly able to look back at what the Saviors had done, Hannah walked back toward the door and closed it behind her, sliding down into a helpless pile and loosely bringing her arms around her legs. Exhausted, Hannah took a deep, shaky breath and leaned on the door as she fell apart even more than she thought possible, trying and failing to accept and cope with everything they had lost, and everything else that they kept on losing.


	39. Chapter 39

Hannah lost track of how long she’d been sitting there, tears falling silently down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the uncomfortably empty space where her and Daryl’s bed was supposed to be. But the sudden sound of the front door opening shook her back to reality and out of her head before a knock came to the door she was leaning against. Hannah got to her feet and wiped at her tear soaked cheeks and opened the door, surprised and relieved to see Daryl standing there with his eyes down. 

“Daryl.” Hannah breathed, her stomach flipping as he looked up at her. She went to wrap her arms around him in the naive hope that he had somehow gotten away from Negan, only to be stopped we he took a step back and Negan appeared in front of her. 

“Ah ah ahhh.” Negan taunted, waving his finger slowly in her face as he stepped into the room, forcing her to move back. “What’d I say when I got here?”

Hannah looked up at him and tried to swallow away the fear and heartbreak sitting just below the surface, feeling small and helpless as he towered over her and waited for her answer. 

“What do you want?”

“Straight and to the point. Just how I like it.” He smiled, looking over at Daryl and waving his hand for him to walk toward them. “Now… I can see this must be hard for you. Really, I get it. Seein’ him in my clothes doin’ all this shit for me when I’m sure you never thought you'd see anything like it, I get it. I really get it. And it’s gotta suck.”

“What is your point?”

“My point is. I’m a good guy. When you get to know me. I can be reasonable. Sensible even. And I’m sure if Daryl here had the balls to say anything about it, he would tell me the same about you. Right?”

Negan stared directly at her and waited for her to say something, squinting his eyes at her when she didn’t.

“Right?” He added, looking at Daryl who had taken a small step back and then back at Hannah. 

“I would think so, yes.” 

“Good. Now, since we’re both sensible, reasonable people, I think we can work something out between us. Don’t you?”

Hannah stared at him for a long moment and tried to think of anything this man could possibly be reasonable about, coming up short at his disappointing track record so far. 

“That depends.” 

“Well, at least we have progress. Right? At least you’re willing to consider it.” He asked, leaning back against the dresser behind him. “Now, let me start off by saying this. I don’t know what it is, but you’ve got some stones I didn't expect, and I like that. I REALLY like that. So take it as a compliment, but I’ve got a bit a soft spot for shit like that, so you can take that as you will. But Rick’s done a bang up job so far. I can see he hates my guts and I get why. But because I like that you’ve got a bigger pair of balls than he does, I want you to do me a favor. AND, as long as you agree to it, I’ll do you a favor in return and have my guys bring back your stuff in here. Instant winner. Just agree to the terms and conditions to claim your prize!” He said excitedly like a game show host. 

“I’m not going back with you.” Hannah said with as little attitude as possible. 

“Now, as much fun as I know that would be, I happen to know that with this guy around, you’d never give me the time ‘a day and I’m a busy man. I don’t have time for that shit. No, what I want is some reassurance.”

“What kind of reassurance?”

“The kind that promises I get good shit when I come back here.”

Hannah looked over at Daryl and back at Negan, trying to put together what kind of deal he could possibly be asking her to make. 

“Think of it as… workin’ for points. You get me good shit, and eventually, maybe I let Daryl here out of his box. Maybe, even let you let him in YOUR box, if know what I-”

“He ain’t-“

“Ah tatataaah, Daryl, no. This is between me and Hannah. I didn’t ask you to speak. So you don’t fuckin' speak.”

“Don’t talk to him like that in front of me.” Hannah warned angrily. “He’s still a person. You asked him in here and you’ll treat him like one.” 

“See, now there’s that wit I’ve come to enjoy.” Negan smiled, raising his eyebrows in slight surprise at her guts to talk to him the way she had. 

“What kind of ‘good shit’ are you looking for?”

“The kind that’s hard to come by. Meds. Guns. And especially, bullets. World like this you can have all the guns you want, but those things are pretty goddamn worthless with bullets.” 

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice.” She said, crossing her arms and hating herself for agreeing to do what she would have to do. 

“See? Reasonable people.” Negan said, holding out his hands like he were offering her the world. 

“But what I want now is far simpler than what you might think. You obviously won't let him go, so it'd be pointless for me to ask. But I want for you to keep him fed and healthy until that ‘maybe’ time comes.” She added, looking over at him. “And I’d like to at least be able to touch him before you go.” 

“There’s those balls again.” Negan said, standing up straight and turning toward the door. “But that’ll have to wait ’til next time. Think of it as motivation to get shit done. But, I'm not a total douche, I'll still have the guys bring your stuff back in.” He added, motioning his hand for Daryl to excuse himself. “Get me good shit, and the deal gets sweeter.” 

Hannah watched as Daryl disappeared and her heart broke all over again when Negan left just behind him, his voice calling out to some of his men outside to return their bed to their room. She stood alone in their room and stepped out of the way when the Saviors returned the frame and mattress set, not surprised in the slightest when they didn’t put them together and left her to do it on her own. But instead of busying herself with putting the bed back together, she walked back out of the house and looked out toward the gates, watching as three large moving trucks left Alexandria and two others stopped at the entrance, more Saviors walking up to the gates as the van Glenn had used to drive them to the woods pulled in, followed by the car Rosita and Spencer had taken hours before. 

She slowly walked down the steps and toward the gate, watching as Rick looked up at him and walked outside the gate and disappeared, the rest of the group falling into silence while they waited for him to return. Hannah stopped just short of the gate next to the van Spencer had gotten out of, watching Daryl out of the corner of her eye while he stood and waited for the Saviors to load him back up into their truck and take him away. 

Negan hummed to himself until Rick and Michonne came into view behind him, Michonne walked right past him with a deer held on her shoulders and a rifle in Rick’s hand when he came back up to offer it to Negan. Hannah looked over at Michonne and gave her a small nod, knowing exactly what she’d been up to outside and that it had nothing to do with hunting and everything to do with the fact that she was a terrible shot. 

“Look at this.” Negan said, impressed by what Michonne had come back with. 

“I thought she was scavenging. She was hunting. This one never came inside, we kept it near the line.” Rick said, handing Negan the rifle he’d been carrying. 

“Look at this. This is something to build a relationship on. Good for you, Rick. This is readin’ the room and gettin’ the message. I said it before, I’m ‘a say it again. You sir, are special.”

“Now that you know we can follow your rules…” Rick started, looking up from the road at Negan who turned back to look at him from handing the gun to one of his men.

“Yes?”

“I’d like to ask you if Daryl could stay.” He said as Hannah looked straight at him, disappointed all over again knowing that the answer would always be ‘no’. At least until Hannah could get enough done and make him uphold his end of their deal. 

“Not happenin’.” He said as Rick looked down in disappointment. “You know what? I don’t know. Maybe Daryl can plead his case? Maybe Daryl can sway me.” He added, only setting Daryl up knowing that he wouldn’t say anything. 

Hannah watched for a second and dropped her face to cover her eyes, wishing the tears weren’t so dangerously close to the surface as she listened to the silence she knew wouldn’t be broken by Daryl’s words. She knew he wouldn’t show that kind of weakness. The silence and resignation he’d given Negan hadn’t been because he was scared. Hannah knew that for a fact. It was out of guilt and resilience to keep himself his own. Both of them had come from families dictated by men like Negan. All they had to do was play along and give them what they wanted. And she knew that was what he was doing. Both she and Daryl knew that regardless of anything Daryl would say, the answer would be ‘no’. So at least for now, it was better to maintain some semblance of strength and make it look like fear than to make Negan see anything otherwise. 

“Daryl?” Negan said as Hannah looked from Rick to Daryl and back. “Well, you tried. Now what you gotta do, is get get over that tall wall of yours and try harder out there. Earn for me. Because we’re comin’ back soon. And when we do, you better have something interesting for us. Or Lucille, she’s gonna have her way.” He went on, looking back at Hannah for a moment and back at Rick. “I want you to hear that again. If you don’t have something interesting for us, somebody’s gonna die. And no more magic guns.”  
Hannah shook her head and looked up at Daryl once again, defeated and broken when he looked up her for what could be the last time, neither of them having any idea if Negan could ever be reliable to keep up with his side of the deal they’d made. She looked at him and tried to tell him through her expression alone how much she loved him, relieved when he gave her a small nod in return before Dwight shoved his shoulder and walked up to Rosita. 

“Arat, grab that deer, it’s gettin’ late. Let’s go home.” Negan said as Michonne dropped the deer from her shoulders and stormed off. “Man, I love a gal that buys me dinner and doesn’t expect me to put out.” He laughed as Rick watched Michonne walk away. 

Lauren turned her attention to Dwight and watched him taunt Rosita after Spencer rolled Daryl’s bike out of the back of the van and revved it’s engine, moving it slowly until he was just next to Daryl and Hannah and turning to look at him. 

“You can have it back. Just say the word.” Dwight said, waiting for Daryl speak and speeding off when he didn’t. Rick walked back up to them and looked from Daryl to Hannah and down at the ground, turning around when Negan came up to them and smiled. 

“So nobody died. And you know what I think? I think you and I, we can find our understanding. Let me ask you somethin’ Rick. You want me to go?”

Hannah looked at him with a look of question, hating that he got off on teasing and taunting Rick the way he did. 

“I think that’d be good.” Rick said a moment later, still holding Lucille in his hand. 

“Then just say those two magical words.” 

Rick took a second to swallow his pride and hatred and Hannah chewed at the inside of her cheek, wanting to speak so bad she nearly made herself bleed before Rick finally spoke. 

“Thank you.” He said, sound more resolute than he looked as Negan started to laugh. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Thank you.” He teased with a wide, annoying smile as a walker slowly approached the gate behind him. “Another one. You need our help. Dayton. Hand me that candle stick over there. You know what I think Rick? I think we’re both gonna come outta this winners. Watch my form.” He bragged, turning around and bashing the walker’s skull in.   
Hannah rolled her eyes at him and looked over at Rick while he struggled to keep his rage in control, his hand lifting Lucille just enough to make her worry that he was thinking about doing something incredibly stupid. 

“Yep. Win win.” Negan said, dropping the bloody candle stick on the ground. “Clean that up for me next time. Let’s move out.” He added, his men shoving Daryl forward. Hannah caught his glance one last time and watched him walk back to the back of one of the Saviors’ trucks and looked back at Negan when he stopped and turned back around. 

“Oh wait. How careless of me? You didn’t think I was gonna leave Lucille, did you? I mean… after what she did… Why would you want her? Thank you for being so accommodating, friend.” He said smoothly, taking the bat from Rick’s hand and inspecting it carefully before he leaned in close. “In case you havn’t caught on, I just slid dick down your throat, and you thanked me for it.” 

Negan’s words were low and deep in his throat and Hannah nearly told him to go fuck himself, stopping herself and choosing to walk forward out of the gate instead as Negan’s truck pulled away and the other rumbled to life behind her. Rick stayed still for a moment and the truck Daryl had been loaded into moved out, pulling out of the gates ahead of them and driving slowly away from Alexandria. Rick stepped forward to stand next to Hannah and she brought her hand to rest on the back of one of his shoulders, watching the man she loved be taken away yet again while he watched his home disappear into the distance. 

He was gone a few short moments later and both Hannah and Rick stood in complete, heartbroken silence, neither of them able to to move or speak while they tried to cope with the day’s stack of disappointments. She leaned forward to rest her forehead on Rick’s shoulder and quietly cried for what felt like the millionth time that day until Rick turned toward her and hugged her tight. 

“What a shit day.” He said quietly as she wiped away her tears and took a small step back. 

“He made me a deal…” Hannah started, looking up at him and feeling a massive wave of disappointment grip her insides and twist them together. “He didn’t really give me much of a choice… I had to take it.”

“What kind of deal.”

“Told me I had to make sure we had good things to give him… that I could ‘work for points’, whatever that means. And maybe eventually he’d let Daryl out of 'his box'... which I'm assuming is a prison cell of some sort.”

“And you took that? You really think he’s the kind that sticks to what he says?”

“Rick, he didn’t give me much choice. I was afraid to know what the alternative would be so I wasn’t about to ask. But… we can look at it this way. I can go out scavenging now with no issue with my foot-“

“You just twisted it.”

“No. I didn’t. I was just covering my ass so I could make sure he was okay… You can't honestly think I wouldn’t at least make sure he was okay. That he was fed?”

“You could have gotten yourself killed for that, Hannah. Or him. You can’t-“

“Don’t Rick. It’s done… My point is. I can go out on runs now. So I will. Whether it’s alone or with someone else, I’m going out and I’m going to find what I can so we can at least get ahead. Somehow."

“If that’s even possible.”

“I’m not taking him at his word... I’m not that stupid. But we have to play this game with him if we’re going to make it through this.” Hannah said, looking up at the man who was struggling to keep it together. “I saw you guys headed to Olivia’s… He took the guns, didn’t he?”

“All of ‘em.” 

“Every single one?”

“Every single one… he almost had Olivia killed. Spencer…” Rick started, looking back at Spencer who was still standing between the car and the van and watching them talk. “Stole two guns and a bunch of food and hid ‘em in a vent in his house. So when the numbers didn’t match the guns cash, Negan threatened to kill Olivia for not keeping the record. I can’t… let this happen anymore.”

“Spencer is stupid and weak. This couldn’t have surprised you.”

“No. It doesn't.” 

"It's probably the last thing you wanna hear. But with what COULD have happened because of him? If I so much as hear him pull anything like that again... he's dead. I won't hesitate." 

"I hope it doesn't come to that." 

Hannah nodded in agreement and Rick gave her shoulder a warm squeeze before the both of them stepped forward and Rick closed the gate, both of them walking up to the van and meeting Spencer at the front of it. 

"Spencer." Rick said, Hannah standing a few steps away with her arms folded across her body. "I took the guns you had in your house. The Saviors wanted ours. All of 'em. There were two missing' from the inventory. They were gonna kill Olivia." He continued, waiting for Spencer to say anything while Hannah's blood started to boil the longer she looked at him. "Spencer."

"You went into my house?" He asked, the look on his face offended that someone had so brazenly invaded his privacy.

"They were gonna kill Olivia." Rick returned, his tone quickly becoming agitated. "Look, I'm not faulting you for havin' the guns. I did it myself. But the food. And liquor? That's 'cause your small, Spencer. You're weak. You got lucky with the walls. You got lucky with us." He said, turning and walking away while Hannah stayed where she was. 

"We should've made a deal with them when we could've." Spencer said after him, too confident in his words for the man he was dealing with, still clueless as what Rick, or even Hannah herself, were capable of doing if he continued down the road he was going. "OH yeah, we're so lucky. You led us all to the promised land! Isn't that right, Rick? Here we are! I guess Glenn and Abraham were lucky too?"

Hannah bit down hard and resisted the instant urge to say anything just yet, instead grabbing for the handle of her knife before Rick spoke from where he'd stopped in his tracks. 

"You say anything like that to me again, I'll break your jaw and knock you're teeth out. You understand?... Say yes." 

"Yes." Spencer said loudly with absolutely no meaning behind his words while Rick continued back toward the house. He turned to walk back to the door of the truck and Hannah grabbed for his arm, squeezing him hard and throwing him against the wall behind him. 

"You know, I don't think you do understand." She snarled, holding a handful of his shirt in her fist. 

"I had 'em for a while..."

"I don't give a God forsaken SHIT."

"I didn't tru-"

"How deluded do you have to be to convince yourself that what you did was for this community as a whole? You think I can't tell a weak man when I see one? Do you even realize what could have just happened?!"

"Look at what he's gotten us int-"

"You don't EVER SAY THAT AGAIN." Hannah warned, tightening her grip on his shirt and pressing him even harder into the wall. "Tell me something. Were you there? The other night in the woods with Negan and his men? Did you have to sit by and watch him do what he did?" She asked, waiting for him to answer and not surprised when he didn't say anything. "I want you to answer with your words. Were. You. There?"

"No."

"Then you shut your fucking mouth. Two people lost their lives that night and Daryl was taken to where ever those pricks call home to protect what we have here and all you do is look out for your own pathetic self. You're small and weak and stupid and I'm sure you're bound to get yourself killed at some point because I don't think you possess the ability to think about the consequences of your words and actions. So let me spell this out for you... You really did get lucky with Rick. He's much nicer than I am and happens to have way more patience than I do to deal with your stupid bullshit, so I'm going to tell you this once and you better take it fucking seriously." She threatened, pulling out her knife and holding it up to his throat, pressing the blade into his skin just enough for it to hurt without breaking his skin. "If you EVER. Pull anything like that shit again. I will kill you. I won't care what you took. I won't care why you took it. But if you do anything like that again, I won't fucking hesitate. It's bad enough we have to deal with Negan and whatever shit he throws at us. But your bullshit is only making it worse." Hannah kept her eyes on him and felt the heat in her chest grow even hotter the longer she made eye contact. The look on his face was one she wasn't surprised to see, full of unease and fear and surprise that she'd had the mind to threaten him the way she had before Hannah let go of him with another hard shove into the wall and stepped back, giving him another serious look of warning. 

"Go home and stay there. Maybe you won't fuck up anything else." She said as she watched him for another short moment and turned to leave. 

Spencer took a moment to stand up straight as Hannah walked away and she didn't look back, heading back toward the house to deal with her frustration on her own. The house was quiet with the exception the sound of hushed voices coming from upstairs as Hannah stopped in the kitchen and looked through the cupboards, surprised to see that the Saviors hadn't ransacked them of all of their food. She grabbed one of the small jars of carrots and set it down on the counter, leaning on both of her hands and staring at it wondering if Daryl had been eaten that day. If he had just given her an answer so she wouldn't worry about him. Uneasy with worry and disappointment, Hannah pushed the jar away and walked back to the bedroom and closed the door behind her to shut herself off from everyone else. She knew she needed to eat, but just the very idea that Daryl was suffering stole her appetite and she couldn't make herself do it. If she had to wait, she would wait. 

Hannah looked back over at the bed Negan had let her keep and slid down to the floor leaning against the door, hating herself for having felt like she was backed into a corner making the agreement she'd made with him. The idea of being in any kind of cahoots with him made her skin crawl and Hannah swallowed hard at the ball of unease lodged in her throat, wishing for the millionth time that somehow things could be different. She thought back on the day when he'd left, wondering if anything she could have said would have done anything to stop him. It was no secret that he internalized everything, he'd proved multiple times over that he wasn't one for sharing what he felt or thought in the moment. And even when she'd finally gotten through to him enough to open up to her, the struggle to get him there was heartbreaking. To see him fight so hard against letting the woman who loved him, scars and all, was difficult and never failed to bring tears to her eyes. 

Watching the light outside the window slowly fade, Hannah finally pulled herself from the floor and walked over to the mattress and box spring leaning against the wall. She ran her hand along the hard frame of the box spring and missed the man she shared it with, looking over at the metal frame before she walked across the room and carefully lowered it in front of the mounted headboard. Footsteps came from the stairs and down toward the bedroom door behind her just before a soft knock came to it, catching Hannah by surprise and making her knock her shin hard into the frame. 

"Shit!" She hissed, reaching down to rub her leg as the door quietly opened and Rick stepped inside. 

"He let you keep it?" He asked, watching her stand back up. 

"For that deal, yeah." Hannah said, looking over at the mattress set. "I'm sorry I made it..."

"Don't."

"I'd rather have him here... I'd sleep on the floor for the rest of my life if it meant I could have him back." 

"I know, but...Having someone here other than me showin' him we can work together will help. Maybe it'll help Daryl in the long run, too."

"Yeah well... still doesn't mean I don't feel like shit for taking it." 

"Hannah, you did what you had to."

"Anyway... this run tomorrow."

"I been thinkin' about it... I think it's best you stay here and let me go with Aaron instead."

"Rick..."

"Hannah, I mean it. You're the only other person here that I know can handle this place without me around." 

"What about Rosita? Olivia? They can-"

"I know that, but you've got more of a level head than Rosita. And Olivia's not cut out to lead the group like you are."

"More of a level head? You're funny." 

"You can handle your own. I know that, because I've seen it. And you're good with the group. If anything happens while we're gone, I know you have handle it."

"Rick, I'm not saying I can't, I just... I have to do this."

"No. No, I won't let you."

"Rick..." 

"I can't let anything happen to you. Not just because I need you here, but Daryl..."

"I'm doing this FOR him!"

"Which is precisely why I can't let you... Hannah I can't-"

Hannah rubbed both of her hands down her face and held them at the back of her neck, staring straight up at the ceiling. 

"You better get your hands on something good." She said, irritation pulling at her words. "Now, can you help me with this?" 

Rick nodded and turned to grab one side of the box spring and helped her get the bed back together, both of them stuck in their thoughts and a deafening silence. Before he left, Rick gave Hannah another long hug that said much more than any of his works could and kissed her temple, leaving her feeling like at least the days following wouldn't be quite so difficult. That there could at least be a glimmer of hope to hold onto. 

He was gone a few moments later and Hannah made herself busy with putting new sheets on the bed before stepping into the shower, taking longer than she should have as she tried to wash the frustrations of the day away. Feeling as refreshed as she could given the circumstances, she walked back into the bedroom and crawled into bed, once again hugging Daryl's pillow and feeling her heart ache for him to be there when she woke up.


	40. Chapter 40

The following days had dragged for what had felt like a week. Hannah had tried to pass the time after Rick and Aaron had gone by walking the outer perimeter of Alexandria, making sure there weren't any weak spots in the walls that would need any maintenance in the coming days. She'd hated to watch the two of them leave without her regardless of knowing Rick had had a point with his reason to make her stay. 

The early morning had passed and Hannah finished her third trip around the walls before she finally walked back inside, pulling hard on the gate before she locked it and headed up the hill toward the house. The streets were oddly quiet and Hannah looked around, surprised that there weren't more people out doing their usual chores when she finally made it back to the steps to the house and Olivia let herself out holding Judith in her arms. 

"Olivia, hi." Hannah said with a small smile, stepping up onto the porch and smiling at Judith, noticing the look of worry on her face. "Something wrong?"

"I can't find Carl..."

"What?"

"I thought he was just hanging out with Enid like he's been doing a lot lately, but... I can't find either of them."

"Since when?!"

"I noticed earlier. I usually see him by lunchtime when he comes to see Judith. I keep her when Rick and Michonne are out, but he didn't show up today... He's not here. And I haven't seen Enid since yesterday." 

"Shit!" Hannah panicked, looking behind her across the clearing toward the gate and back at the house. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone? Had he said anything before that you know of?"

"No, nothing. Enid likes to run off sometimes, but... I don't know where she goes." Olivia answered, following Hannah back into the house as she rushed around to find a bag. 

"Where's Rosita?" She asked, stopping short of the hallway and looking back at an even more worried Olivia. 

"I don- I- I think she's on duty."

"Good. Find her. I have to get to the Hill Top. He either went there for Maggie or..." Hannah stopped, hating the only other alternative that couldn't possibly have a good outcome. 

"Or what?"

"Or he went after Negan."

Hannah paused for a moment and wondered if Carl could have had the kind of guts to go after a man who he'd witnessed have an iron, dangerous fist over their group. She knew he'd been furious with what the Saviors had taken from them. But could he have possibly been so stupid as to somehow get himself to where ever it was that Negan called home? Could he have put all of them at such tremendous risk because he was angry?

"I'll be back. Hopefully he's just checking on Maggie and not stupid enough to go after him. If he's at the Hill Top, I'll be back by sun down."

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Olivia, I have to. If Rick gets here and he's still missing..."

"But what if-"

"Rosita can handle it. So can Tara." Hannah said, looking back over at Olivia who still held Judith in her arms with her hand holding at the back of her head. "Anything happens, make sure you get Judith to safety, grab a knife and stick with her. You will. Be. Fine." 

Olivia gave her a reluctant nod and Hannah ran back to her bedroom and grabbed a backpack, shrugging it onto her shoulders before she stopped in her tracks and debated on bringing the gun she'd stashed. Refusing to put herself in more danger than she had to, she quickly ripped it from where she'd taped it under the sink and shoved it in the pocket of her jacket and ran back out to the kitchen, grabbing a couple of apples from the counter. Olivia still stood holding Judith in the middle of the kitchen and Hannah stopped at the door, holding the handle briefly before she looked back at the unsure woman behind her. 

"I promise. You'll be fine." She said, giving her a nod and disappearing out the door. 

The second her feet hit the pavement, Hannah ran toward the gate and pulled hard on the large metal lock, whistling up at Tobin standing up on the guard post before she darted out past the gates and toward one of the old cars parked along the side of the road. Tobin shouted after her and Hannah refused to listen, instead quickly getting into the driver's side door and struggling to get the engine started. 

After another four tries, the engine finally turned over and Hannah pulled away, trying to orient herself and remember the turns she needed to make to get where she prayed Carl had gone. She looked back though the rearview mirror and noticed a group of trucks far in the distance behind her and immediately pulled over. Her heart raced as she recognized them from the days before when Negan had come to visit them and swallowed hard, hoping with everything she had that everyone would be okay. That nothing done at home would end in bloodshed. Hannah waited for them to turn onto the road toward Alexandria's gates before she continued down the road, her eyes focused carefully on the horizon of the road. 

The miles ahead of her seemed to stretch the longer she drove before the roads finally started to look familiar. The heat of the afternoon bore heavily on her skin and she wiped away the sheen of sweat, finally turning down the last long stretch of road toward the Hill Top. But before she could get much further, the engine started to sputter and the car lost it's acceleration, the power steering starting to screech before the steering wheel made a hard jolt to the left and veered her off the road.

"Fuck!" She hissed, losing her last ounce of control and her eyes growing wide as the terrain forced the car off of the road and directly into a tree only milliseconds before Hannah's world turned completely black and cold.

***

The sound of metal scratching metal echoed from someplace far in the distance along with muffled voices and mumbled words. The sounds reverberated through Hannah's head and she struggled to grasp any semblance of consciousness, fighting her muscles to open her eyelids and blink past the easy light of the early evening. 

"She was supposed to stay." She heard Rick's voice say as she blinked away the blur of unconsciousness. 

"Carl ra-" Hannah mumbled, struggling to open her eyes all the way to see him kneeling next to her in the open door of the car she'd crashed. 

"She couldn't have been gone long." Rosita added from the other side of the car when she reached into the open window and grabbed for Hannah's bag. "This car was in front of the gate when I got back this afternoon."

"You can... stop talking about me like I'm not here." Hannah said quietly, reaching up to feel the excruciating knot on her forehead and immediately regretting it. "I left right before Negan pulled up to the gates... saw their trucks in the rearview."

"You're lucky we saw the smoke coming off this car." Rick returned as she turned to get her feet on the ground. "We almost didn't stop." 

"Thank you for stopping." 

"You okay to get up?" Tara asked from over Rick's shoulder and offering her hand to Hannah as she moved to stand up. 

"Yeah, I'll be alright." 

"We're about a mile from the Hill Top. We'll have the doctor take a look to be safe." Michonne said, taking a step back as Rick helped Hannah up to her feet. 

"Brain rest and taking it easy is all he'll say." Hannah added, getting her bearings on their surroundings and looking at the people around her, stopping when she saw Carl standing just next to the gas cap. "You're lucky I care about you, kid."

"I'm sorry, I had to-"

"Relax." She said with a small smile, waving him off and holding out her hand toward Rosita to take her bag back. "Come on. I'd like to get my hands on some painkillers sooner rather than later."

Hannah reached up and touched her head again, blood covering the palm of her hand when she pulled it away. 

"You came out here looking for him?" Michonne asked, looking from Hannah to Carl and back. 

"Yeah. I did. I thought if he would go anywhere, it'd be here to see Maggie. If not here... I don't know if I could've found him. I don't know where Negan's compound is." She answered, giving Carl a look of irritation. "The plan was to be back home before dark... which obviously won't happen."

"Everything back home is fine now..." Rick said, walking along side her and opening the back of the old white moving truck. "It wasn't... But it is now."

"What do you mean it wasn't? What happened?" Hannah asked, her volume growing louder with worry. "What did Negan do?"

"Spencer-"

"Spencer double-crossed him. Went behind his back to try and take Alexandria under his control because he thought Rick couldn't do it. Thought he'd made too many mistakes." Rosita cut in, climbing into the back of the truck and offering her arm to Hannah to help her up. 

"Dead?"

"Disemboweled."

"Jesus... I knew he wouldn't fucking listen." Hannah said, shaking her head to herself. 

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, stepping closer as Hannah sat down and let her legs hang from the bed of the truck. 

"I told him to watch himself. And if he didn't I'd kill him... I knew he'd do something to get himself killed eventually. Told him that."

"Olivia's dead." Rosita added quietly, sitting down next to her. "Negan took Eugene."

"What?" Hannah said, her stomach flipping on itself.

"It was me... I asked Eugene to make me a bullet-"

"Rosita..."

"I shot at Negan..." She continued, looking down in her lap as a tear slipped down her cheek. "I missed. Hit Lucille instead... I tried to tell him I made the bullet. Didn't believe me. So he had Olivia killed and took Eugene."

"Holy shit..." Hannah said sadly under her breath, watching Rosita before she held her shoulder and guilt weighing heavily on her own at the promise she'd made to Olivia, wishing she could have been home to do what Rick had asked her to. Perhaps if she had been, she could have done something to stop it. It wasn't just Rosita's actions that had gotten someone so innocent killed. It was hers, too. 

"We can't dwell." Michonne said, breaking the silence between their group and stepping forward. "As wrong as it seems, we need to move forward... Olivia would have wanted us to keep going."

Carl and Tara both nodded and climbed up into the back of the truck to sit and lean against the wall and Michonne and Rick disappeared to the front cab, the doors closing in near unison before the engine roared to life and the truck pulled forward. 

"How bad is it?" Hannah asked to no one in particular, wiping at the slow drips of blood on the side of her face. 

"Few cuts on the side of your forehead. May need a few stitches." Tara said, resting her arms on her knees where she sat across the truck. "Feel okay?"

"Headache is killer. But I'll live." 

The engine slowed a few minutes later and pulled off on the side of the road. Hannah looked to her left and saw the wooden posts of the Hill Tops wall stretched out along the left side of the road. Dusk had come swiftly out of the afternoon and the air had finally cooled as Hannah lowered herself easily from truck bed and got to her feet. Tara, Rosita and Carl followed her out to the road and Michonne and Rick met them at the side of the truck, all of them turning toward the gate before Hannah stopped and looked inside the driver's side window to the truck. 

"You guys go ahead. I want to try to clean this thing up a bit. I'll just be a minute." 

Rick nodded and walked up toward the gates, Maggie's voice calling Sasha and Enid's names echoing just a few moments later as Hannah climbed into the cab of the truck and searched for something to clean the blood from her face. An old towel was lodged into the crevice of the seat and Hannah pulled hard to get it out, carefully looking at the group of cuts along the top right side of her forehead and slowly patting away the blood slowly oozing from them. She looked back over at the gates to see them standing open and that the group had disappeared inside, checking her reflection again in the mirror before hopping out of the truck and walking toward the gates just as one of them started to close. 

The group stood in the middle of the clearing just inside, everyone standing around embracing one another. Maggie stood to the side and looked over at Hannah as she stopped, her eyes growing wide before she stepped over and wrapped her arms around her in a long, warm hug. Hannah closed her eyes and the two of them slowly turned a few steps, thankful that despite everything they'd been through, at least something good could come out of this. 

"Are you okay?" Hannah asked quietly, pulling away and looking carefully at her and the color that had been absent from her skin the night that both of them had lost someone they loved. 

"We're both okay." She said easily, holding her hand on her stomach and reaching up to brush Hannah's hair out of the way to see the cuts on her head. 

"Oh my god. Good." Hannah returned, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Are you?"

"I'll be fine." She answered, the gates closing behind Maggie before she looked back at her, noticing a change in Maggie's expression. "What?"  
Maggie smiled and nodded toward something behind where Hannah stood, tears starting to glass over her eyes before Hannah swallowed hard at the knot of hope lodged in her throat.

"Is he-?" Hannah breathed, tears immediately slipping down her cheeks as Maggie held her hand on her shoulder and gently turned her around. Hannah looked across the clearing at her family standing together once again, noticing Rick's gun in his hand before she looked up at him and watched him take a few steps back, even more tears immediately pouring down her cheeks. 

Not a second passed before Hannah took off up the small hill toward the old wooden shack Daryl stood in front of, the world dissolving away as she ran into the comforting arms of the only person she could ever truly feel safe in. Quiet sobs escaped from her and Hannah buried her face in Daryl's neck, holding onto him with every ounce of strength she had left until he broke away from her only enough to look at her. 

"What happened?" He asked, his voice deep and gritty and heaven to her ears. 

"Nothing I can't recover from." Hannah said weakly, holding her hands on his chest before she reached up to sweep his hair out of his face. "Are you okay?" 

"Gonna be. I am now."

"Oh my god." She breathed, moving her hand down his chest and wrapping her arm around his side. Daryl's hands held tight to Hannah's waist and he pressed his forehead to hers, tears slipping silently down his cheeks before she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his. She took her time savoring the feel of him against her body, holding her hand along the side of his neck and wishing this moment would never end as she slipped her tongue between his lips to taste him. 

"I love you." Daryl said softly when he broke from her kiss and kept his forehead pressed gently to hers. "I'm sorry I-"

"Don't." Hannah said, looking up at him. "Not here. Not now... not at all." 

"I'm sorry..." He whispered again, burying his face in the curve of her neck. 

A soft cry escaped from Hannah as she brought her arms back around his neck to hug him tight and kiss just behind his ear, pulling away slowly before she took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together. Daryl brought their hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand, his eyes never leaving hers as she took a small step to the side. Hannah gave him a small smile and turned to finally look at the rest of their group, nodding toward the large brick mansion that stood proudly in front of them before they all moved forward. Together.


	41. Chapter 41

The group stepped up to the front stoop of Barrington House and Hannah couldn't keep her hands to herself, holding Daryl's arm in one hand while moving the other smoothly along his back. Rick looked over at each member of the group and he gave each one of them a gentle nod in appreciation, Hannah returning it as she leaned into Daryl's arm before they all walked inside behind Jesus and stood inside while he disappeared into Gregory's office. 

"Rick." Hannah said softly, catching his attention as Daryl followed her further into the open room in front of them. "Before we go talk to him..."

"Go." He returned, his voice full of understanding. "We'll wait."

"Thank you." She whispered, her voice nearly catching her throat before she and Daryl walked away from the group and down the long hallway, turning into a random doorway and into a large kitchen. Daryl closed the door behind them and immediately wrapped his arms around Hannah's waist, picking her up and slowly turning from one side to another with his face tucked into the warm curve of her neck. 

"I can't tell you how empty I felt without you." Hannah breathed, tears slipping down her cheek as she brought her arms around him. "Are you hungry? Did they feed you here?" She added softly, moving one of her hands up to his cheek as he nodded silently into her neck. "How's your shoulder?"

"It'll be alright." Daryl answered, his voice nearly a whisper as Hannah gently touched the bright white bandage peeking out from the open button of his shirt. 

Daryl slowly stepped forward and set her down to sit on the counter and Hannah could no longer control the overwhelming wave of relief sweeping over her. Soft, quiet sobs escaped from her and she held him tight between her legs, combing her fingers through his long, dark hair. She moved one of her hands down to hold on his chest, backing away from him only enough to look at him. 

"Tell me the truth." Hannah said, leaning forward and pressing her forehead to Daryl's temple, kissing his cheek. "What did he do?"

He didn't say anything but instead leaned forward and tightened his grip on her hips, his face buried in her soft, blonde hair. Hannah brought her arms back around his neck again and held him tight, moving one hand to hold the back of his head and kissing behind his ear.

"Hey." Hannah said softly, leaning back only enough to look into his devastatingly beautiful eyes. "Tell me."

"Put me in a cell." Daryl finally said, his voice weak and hardly louder than a mere whisper. "Took my clothes... played some shit ass song nonstop so I couldn't sleep... gave me fuckin' dog food."

"Oh my god." Hannah cried, bringing one of her hands up to hold his cheek. 

"Told me if I joined 'em he'd stop. If I joined 'em he'd give me pretty much anything I wanted. Long as I said 'I'm Negan'... but I couldn't."

"Daryl..."

"After what he did to Glenn? An' Abraham? What happened to Denise?..." He continued, gently shaking his head. "I couldn't do that to them... I can't."

"I love you." Hannah said, leaning in close and hugging him tight again. She pressed her lips behind his ear and swallowed away the hurt and heartbreak at what he'd just been through, wishing she could take away every bit of pain he could be feeling before she leaned back to look at him once again. "No one is ever taking you away from me again... and I will kill anyone who tries to."

"I love you." Daryl returned, still holding his hands on Hannah's hips and absently moving his thumbs along the soft skin of her lower back. 

"We'll get them." She added, leaning back and looking at him again, bringing her hands to hold either side of his face.

"We gotta."

"We will."

"'Fore we do that though..." 

Hannah gave him a small, warm smile and leaned in to kiss him, a mix of relief and need sweeping over her and sending goose bumps across her skin. She slipped her tongue between his lips and savored the taste of him like it was their first kiss all over again, the air leaving their lungs in desperate breaths as they lost themselves in the taste and feel of the other. Hannah broke away from him and leaned back, taking in all of him in front of her before she reached for his belt and fumbled with the buckle. She pulled his pants open and slipped her hand to move along his hard cock, biting her lip at the sight of him and slowly starting to stroke him between her legs. 

Daryl pulled her hips toward him as he took a step back and let Hannah hop down to the floor and helped her push down her jeans, getting down on his knees in front of her. Hannah bit down hard on her lip and Daryl kissed along her hip until the sound of a door opening and closing down the hallway shook them both back to reality. She pulled her pants back up and he helped her button them before he held his forehead against her stomach. 

"Later." Hannah said quietly and out of breath with need, bringing her hand to hold along the side of his neck as he stood back up in front of her and hugged her again. Daryl nodded and kissed the side of her neck and Hannah reached between them to fix his belt, pinching his side and turning toward the door to make their way back out to the large entry room with their group. 

"Still waiting on Gregory and Jesus in there." Rick said, stepping toward where Daryl leaned against the wall with his arms wrapped around Hannah's chest in front of him. 

"Regardless if Gregory joins us, we're gonna do this." Hannah said, holding her hands on top of Daryl's. 

"It won't be easy... we need at least another group to get the numbers and we don't have enough weapons. But we will. It'll happen." 

The doors to Gregory's office opened a moment later and Jesus looked over toward them, giving the group a nod for them to follow him inside. Members of the group slowly made their way into the office and found their seats or places to lean and Daryl stood at the back of the room with Hannah directly next to him and holding her hand low on his back and underneath his shirt. Gregory stood behind his desk across the room and looked out at each one of them, holding his hands on his hips with a look of frustration on his face. 

"Well, Rick, I wish I could say I'm happy to see you and your group, but... I'm not."

"Rude little bitch." Hannah said under her breath, not really caring if he had heard her or not. 

"We need to talk about the Saviors." Rick said, standing with one of his hands on his hip. 

"Oh, you mean the guys you PROMISED you'd take care of?"

"We didn't know what we know now. The place we hit was only an outpost-"

"And you swore to me you'd get rid of them. Now the problem is even worse!"

Hannah shook her head and watched as Rick did the same, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he bit away his initial anger and turned to look at Hannah and Daryl standing behind him and Michonne. 

"If we had known that location was only an outpost, we would have handled this much differently." Hannah spoke up, moving to stand up straight and looking directly at Gregory when he did the same. "Kind of hard to do exactly what needs to be done when we don't have all the information we need."

"Is it my problem you didn't do you homework before you went in there all gung-ho?"

"We didn't go in there all 'gung-ho'. We planned that and you know we did. And yes, it is your problem." Hannah argued, crossing her arms. "It's your problem because you know as well as we do that all of this with the Saviors is only going to get worse."

"That's why we need the Hilltop to join us. Our group is strong. We're capable. But we don't have the numbers or the weapons. If we have more people fighting, we can win."

"Win what? A trophy? Some kind of... rhetorical medal of honor?"

"Were you dropped as a child? We win freedom from the assholes who think they're bigger and better than anyone else. The ones who do nothing but threaten and take lives and take whatever they want." Hannah said, anger and frustration boiling deep in her belly before Daryl's hand took hers and gently pulled her back.

"We win the chance to live without them constantly holding a gun to our heads. When we first came to you, we agreed that we'd work together to make each group stronger. We can still take them out, we just need your help to do it."

"No. No way in hell. That was not the deal. You people swore you could take the Saviors out, and you failed. So, any arrangement we had is now done. Null and void. We aren't trade partners. We aren't friends. And we never met. We don't know each other." Gregory said, pacing back and forth behind his desk before he took a seat and looked up at Rick like he'd asked him to kill his mother. "I owe you nothing. In fact you owe me for taking in the refugees at great personal risk-"

"Oh you were very brave staying in here while Maggie and Sasha saved this place." Jesus interjected from where he stood by the large fireplace. "Your courage was inspiring."

"Hey, don't you work for me? Aren't we friends?"

"Gregory, we already started this." Rick said, stepping up to Gregory's desk. 

"You started this."

"We did. And we're gonna win-"

"These are killers!"

"You said you wanna live! Under their thumb? Killing your people?"

"Sometimes we don't get to choose what our lives looks like. Sometimes you have to count the blessings you have."

"So that's how you think it's best to lead your community? You just... roll over and take whatever kind of abuse is being done to you because, 'hey, it could be worse?'" Hannah asked, not expecting an answer from him.

"How many people can we spare?" Maggie said, stepping forward. "How many people here can fight?"

"We?" Gregory laughed. "I don't even know how many people we have. Margaret. It doesn't even matter. W-w-what are you gonna do? Start a platoon of sorghum farmers? Because that's what we got. They grow things. They're not gonna wanna fight." He continued sarcastically, each word out of his mouth making Hannah's anger grow even sharper and more dangerous given the gun she had stashed in her jacket. 

"This is such horse shit." Hannah complained under her breath once again, bright hot fury boiling deep in her stomach. 

"You're wrong." Tara spoke up, taking a few steps away from the mantle to Hannah and Daryl's left. "When people have the chance to do the right thing, they usually step up. People ju-"

"Let me stop you before you break into song, okay?" Gregory interrupted, holding his hand out like Tara was some kind of child. "And, by the way... who would train all this cannon fodder?"

Sasha, Rosita and Maggie all spoke up their agreement to train the people of the Hilltop and Hannah nodded absently with them, regardless of knowing she wouldn't be staying to help them when she knew she would be needed to do other things. 

"RHETORICAAALLLL." Gregory said in a sing-song voice, the condescension only grating Hannah's nerves even more. "Okay? I don't know wanna know. I never wanna hear another word about any of it. Ever." 

"Would we be better off without the Saviors, yes? Or no?" Rick asked, his voice firm and frustrated while Hannah leaned back against the bookcase next to Daryl. 

"Yeah, sure. Okay." 

"So, what will you do to fix the problem?" Michonne asked, stepping up to his desk. 

"I didn't say we had a problem. You did. And what happens outside my purview, is outside my purview." Gregory said, turning away from the group. 

"What the hell, man? You're either with us or you ain't." Daryl spoke up, his voice stirring a deep lustful need in Hannah's core that was difficult to just ignore. "You're sitting' over there talkin' out both sides 'a your mouth."

"Gregory, you can't just skate by like this and think it could POSSIBLY end well... for you or anyone else." Hannah said, holding her hand on the back of Daryl's arm. "Ignorance is only bliss until the shitstorm hits your doorstep and comes in the form of an asshole holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire to your head."

"I uh, I think I've made my position very clear." He returned. "I wanna thank all of you for not being here today. And for not having this meeting with me and not being seen on your way out... in other words, go out the back." 

Everyone in the room carefully watched Gregory with a strange sense of awe that anyone who could be as foolish and weak as he was could have possible made it this long in a world that had been turned upside down. 

"We don't need 'em anyway." Daryl said as the group walked out and Rick waited for them all to make their way toward the front door as Hannah tucked her fingers into one of his belt loops. 

"Yeah, that's right. 'Cause we have Maggie, Sasha and Jesus here." Rick said as the door opened. 

"Yeah. And Enid." Maggie said quietly just before Enid walked in the door. 

"Hey, um-"

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked her as the group formed a loose circle. 

"Nothing. Just... come outside." Enid said as she stood in front of the group and waved them to follow her outside. 

Hannah looked up at Daryl with her hand holding warmly along his back and gave him a warm smile, her heart soaring knowing that he was hers once again. The group filtered out the door and onto the front stoop and let Maggie step forward to greet the handful of people waiting for them on the path just in front of the house, all of them waiting eagerly to speak with her. 

"What's goin' on?" Maggie asked, taking a step down closer to their level. 

Hannah stepped to Daryl's left and leaned against his body, moving her hand slowly up and down his spine and closing her eyes, her forehead pressed gently to his arm while she ignored what she probably shouldn't be ignoring. Too caught up in feeling his presence with her again, Hannah caught herself start to tear up knowing that he was away from Negan's torture and, at least for the time being, closer to home. She knew it would change and that it would likely do so quickly, but at least for this moment with him, standing on the stoop of an old house so far from home, she felt more at home than she had in all the time without him. 

Forcing herself to focus on whatever was happening in front of them, Hannah opened her eyes again and finally started to listen as everyone uttered various forms of agreement and followed one another down the path toward the gates outside. 

"I missed a lot of that." Hannah said softly, falling in step with Daryl with her fingers laced with his. 

"Folks around here're comin' 'ta fight with us."

"Oh, good. Gregory'll get himself left behind if he doesn't smarten up anytime soon. Even if we don't have the whole group, at least we have something to start with."

"It's a start." Michonne agreed, looking back at her and Daryl. 

"We'll get more. It still won't be enough." Sasha said. 

"No it won't." Rosita chimed in, looking out at the path in front of them as they moved toward the gates. 

"Well, find the right stuff, maybe we don't need the numbers. Blow 'em up, burn 'em to the ground." Daryl suggested, the sound of his voice once again steeling Hannah's attention and making him hard to leave alone. 

"Like the guys on the road a few weeks back. We'd have to find that bazooka, though. Or some good dynamite." Hannah said as Daryl gave her hand a gentle squeeze. 

"You said there weren't just soldiers with the Saviors. That there were workers there? People didn't have a choice." Tara 

"We gotta win." He said, squinting into the sun and ignoring the sacrifice of people who may not have been a part of Saviors if they had much of choice otherwise. 

"We need more hands, another group. Negan has outposts. The geography, the distance works against us. We gotta get back. They'll come looking' for Daryl, we need to be there." Rick explained just before Jesus spoke up, stopping them at the gates before they opened. 

"You don't have to get back. Not yet." He said, pulling a walkie talkie from his back pocket and holding it up. "One of theirs. Long range. We can listen in. Keep track of them."

"So if we're not going back, what're we doing?" Michonne asked, the tone of her voice laced with suspicion. 

"I think it's time I introduce you to Ezekiel. King Ezekiel."

Hannah reared her head back in surprise and gave Jesus a look of amused confusion, a small laugh escaping from her before Rick said the very thing she was about to.

"King?"


	42. Chapter 42

"This'll be interesting." Hannah said under her breath as she climbed into an SUV the group had found after leaving the Hilltop. 

"What kinda guy calls himself 'king' who ain't totally nuts anyway?" Daryl joked softly after he got in behind her. Sasha, Rosita, and Carl followed them in and Hannah moved into Daryl's lap to make more room as Michonne and Rick each heaving themselves into the front seats before the engine rumbled to life. Jesus climbed into the back of the car and the doors shut just as Rick moved the car forward, turning them down the road and following the directions Jesus gave him periodically along the ride. Hannah ignored all of it and instead rest her head on Daryl's shoulder, relaxing into his presence like he'd be taken away at any moment once again. She knew it would only be temporary, that they couldn't just go home like she wanted. The Saviors would find out soon enough that he was gone and they would most certainly make a big deal over it. But at least for the moment, she could pretend that everything would be okay. Because in that moment, everything was okay. 

"What happened?" Daryl asked softly, leaning to the side to look at the gash in her forehead. 

"Carl ran off earlier. So I left to see if he'd gone to see Maggie. But one of those crappy cars we kept on the road outside home had a bad transmission and it ran off the road."

"You feel alright?" 

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Sure?"

Hannah nodded and leaned in to hug him tight, part of her still not believing he was here, that it was just her mind playing games because he was all she could think about. But the feel of his arms around her and his hands moving slowly along her spine was all the proof she needed that he was here, that he was hers again. No matter what Rick's plans were going forward, she would do whatever it took to stay by his side. To fight right along with him. To keep him safe and show him that whatever it was Negan and his men had done wasn't anything he or anyone deserved. But no matter how much she wanted to focus on how thankful she was to finally have him back, the danger of the reality of it was far too heavy to ignore knowing that the Saviors would never let something like this go. Someone would have to pay a price for this, and Hannah had a sickening feeling she knew exactly who would have to pay it. 

"Rick, pull over." Hannah said, sitting up and bringing her hand to hold Daryl's cheek.

"What?" 

Hannah looked at him through his reflection in the rear view mirror and shifted her weight in Daryl's lap, and grabbing for the back pack on the floor of the car. 

"Pull over."

"The hell're you doin'?" Daryl asked as the car came to a stop and Rick turned around in his seat to look back at her. 

"We can't take you home, Daryl." She answered, pulling the straps over her shoulders and looking over at Rick as he eased his shoulders and listened. "You aren't safe. Anywhere. Anywhere the Saviors might be, you can't."

"Are you leaving?" Rick asked, holding his hand on the steering wheel. 

"I think we should, yeah. We can head a few miles north. At least for a few days. Look for some supplies, keep him under the radar until we're ready to fight them."

"You think that's the best way to do this?" 

Hannah looked at Rick and then back to Daryl, seeing in his face that he didn't like the idea and wishing it could be different. 

"I think it's the only choice we have." She said quietly, reaching into the hidden pocket of her jacket and pulling out the gun she'd managed to save. "I have a gun, I have bullets. We'll look for more and keep them until we need them. We'll stick to the woods for a while. Head toward Alexandria so we can be close and still out of their way."

"You wanna just hide in the shadows? There're better things we can be doin' than just lyin' in wait." Daryl argued as Hannah reached for the door handle.

"Not when every move you make could catch their attention."

"She's right." Rick said simply, turning to get out of the car just after Hannah's feet hit the pavement. Daryl turned to face them as the both of them stood in front of the open back door, clearly irritated with what the two of them were doing. 

"We got no food, no water, one gun..."

"And we'll find all of those things. But we need to be smart."

"Be mad all you want. But Hannah's right. This is how we have to do this. We'll get people on board to fight. You stay hidden until we're ready to."

"I'll come home in a few days to check in once we find some place out of sight. If they ask where I am, just tell them I'm out scavenging."

"Do I even get a say here?" Daryl asked, getting down out of the car and leaning against the opening. 

"No. No, not really. I'm sorry, but... this is the best way to do this that won't get you killed." Hannah said, guilt weighing on her shoulders to have to keep him away from their family. From where he felt secure. 

"Fuck." Daryl said under his breath, shaking his head and staring at the ground before he looked back up at Rick and Hannah in front of him and knowing there was no changing their decision. 

"We'll let Maggie know." Rick finally said, holding his hand on Daryl's shoulder and giving Hannah a small nod. He loaded himself back into the car and they were gone a moment later while Hannah and Daryl stood alone on the old, neglected country road. 

"You seen Carol?" He asked, still watching ahead as the SUV grew smaller and smaller. 

"No... Rick told me she just... left. He was out looking for her with Morgan the day before Glenn and Abraham were killed. Tobin said he'd just found a note telling him she didn't want anyone to come after her..." 

"She say why?"

"Just that she couldn't kill anymore. Said that anymore, you could only love someone if you could kill for them. So she couldn't love us because she couldn't kill for us." She answered, a sadness to her voice when she recalled to overhearing Rick tell Michonne what happened a few days after their first encounter with Negan. "I'm sorry." Hannah added, wishing she could fix everything with a snap of her fingers. 

Daryl stayed still for long pause, staring ahead of them before he dropped his head to look down at the pavement, fidgeting with his fingers like he always did when there was too much on his mind. Hannah watched him carefully for a moment before she slowly slid the bag down to the ground and pulled it open, looking to see just what whoever had left it had thought to leave in it. 

"Well, we have a map, so that's something." Hannah said more to herself, tucking the folded highway map between her legs. "Water... extra knife. There's some canned peaches in here." 

"How much water's there?"

"Two bottles. I think this might've been Jesus' bag. I've seen it with him. Here." Hannah said, handing him one of the bottles and zipping the bag closed before she stood up with him again and waited for him to finish his drink, taking it back from him and putting it in the bag. She took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together before Daryl stepped toward her, a sadness weighing on his shoulders she wasn't sure she could help him with. He'd watched two of his people bludgeoned to death in front of his eyes. He'd been imprisoned and tortured and their home had been taunted and stolen from. And to add to all of it, Carol had chosen to leave. While she knew why she'd gone, Hannah couldn't escape the feeling that their group was abandoned because that's exactly what Carol had done. She understood how killing others took it's toll, so she could see why Carol would want to leave, but it didn't change how bad it had felt to know she'd just walked away from the people who loved her, including the broken man standing in front of her. 

"Come on. Let's get off the road. It's already been a long ass day. Let's find someplace to take it easy." Hannah said softly, turning toward the tree line and walking toward it. Daryl followed close behind her and the two of them ventured into the thick trees, following whatever gut instincts came to them and heading to the north where they knew they would come across the walls of Alexandria. 

Hannah lost track of how long they'd been walking as the sun started to fall, the air growing cooler until they finally came across a small wooden cabin tucked into a thicket of overgrown trees. She pulled her gun from her pocket and Daryl stepped ahead of her, holding his hand behind him for her to stop as he did the same, listening carefully to their surroundings for any hint of movement. He turned his head and Hannah offered him her gun at the sound of leaves rustling just around the corner of the building and Hannah stepped carefully behind him before he held up the gun and pointed. 

A gun shot pierced the air a second later and a soft groan escaped from Daryl's throat before he casually stepped around the building, grabbing the foot of the deer he'd just killed. 

"Damn, you didn't even have to try." Hannah smiled as he turned it over. 

"Looks like it was good an' healthy." 

"Good. I'm starving. And I'm sure you are, too." She said quietly. Daryl nodded and Hannah rubbed her hand along his shoulder, gently pressing her fingernails to his back to massage into his skin. "Let's see if we've got any friends waiting inside."

Daryl leaned in and kissed her temple and stepped around another corner of the small wooden cabin, carefully testing his weight on the old steps leading up to a single door and knocking on the glass just above his line of sight. The both of them stayed completely silent for a long moment as they waited, hearing nothing when Daryl finally twisted the doorknob and tried to open it. With no luck, Hannah handed him her knife and watched him jimmy the door open to what had to have been someone's hunting cabin. 

"Holy shit." Hannah whispered after they stepped inside. "How is this still here?"

"Don't look like anybody's been tendin' to it neither." Daryl returned, picking up a lantern from the counter just inside the door and turning on the switch. A soft golden light cast across the room to the reveal someone's long lost hunting cabin, complete with a taxidermy buck head hanging proud with multiple turkeys and ducks displayed on the wall above the bed across the room. A small table with a couple of chairs sat just a few feet away from where they stood next to a kitchen counter and gas stove tucked along the wall to their left. A tall wooden cabinet sat across the room from the kitchen with a lock hanging on it's hinge and Hannah walked directly to it, pulling on it to see if it might be open, disappointed when it wasn't. 

"You see any bolt cu-" Hannah started to ask as she turned around to see Daryl hadn't moved, holding his hand at his temple with his eyes squeezed shut and his head hanging low. 

"Hey..." 

He turned into her arms when she stepped back to him and Hannah hugged him tight, immediately choking back tears of her own. Daryl nearly collapsed into her and cried harder than she had ever seen him cry, his sobs nearly silent as he struggled to control his breathing. 

"Daryl..." Hannah said with hardly a sound, holding her hand gently at the back of his head. "Hey, look at me."

Daryl kept his head low and his face tucked into her neck while Hannah nearly lost her composure right there with him, willing away her own tears to at least try and seem strong enough for the both of them. 

"Baby, look at me." She whispered again, backing away from him and holding his cheek in her hand. Her heart broke into even smaller pieces when Daryl finally looked up at her, his cheeks and nose flushed bright red and tears standing in heavy droplets under his eyes. 

"Whatever he did is over now." Hannah said softly. "It's over and it's just you and me."

Daryl nodded and pressed his forehead to hers, his hands hold warmly along her waist while Hannah hugged her arms tight around him. Smoothing over her hair with one hand, Hannah moved her other up and down his back, wishing there were more she could do to help ease the torment she could feel him drowning in. The two of them stayed wrapped in one another's arms for what could have been hours and it would never be long long enough, the warmth of each other's body against the other's addictive and hard to let go of. 

"Come on, let's eat." Hannah said quietly when she pulled away from him. Daryl nodded and kissed her cheek before he stepped outside the door and returned with the animal that would soon be in their bellies, quickly working with Hannah's knife to break down the deer he'd killed into various cuts of meat. Hannah went through all of the cabinets above and below the counters, surprised to see a sizable stash of canned vegetables and fruit along with a couple of bags of rice and seasonings before she turned on the gas stove and started to cook right along side Daryl. She watched as he carefully cut even more of the deer and turn on the oven to the lowest temperature before he lined the oven racks with meat, closing the door and pulling out dishes for them to eat. 

"Jerky?"

"It'll keep better that way."

"Sounds good to me." Hannah smiled, turning off the stove and sitting down with him at the table and serving up two heaping plates of food.

The two of them ate in a comfortable silence until there bellies were full and Hannah carefully watched Daryl as he picked himself up and carried their dishes back to the sink. She followed him over and walked up behind him to wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his shoulder and slowly moving her hands up and down his stomach. 

"We can do that in the morning." Hannah said softly as Daryl turned around to face her. "Right now I only want to do one thing and it has nothing to do with cleaning." She added, a devious smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. 

Daryl's arms immediately took all of her weight and swept her off of her feet, letting her wrap her lean legs around him as he carried her across the room and laid her down on the bed. Hannah reached for the buttons of his shirt and pulled it open to help him shrug out of it, tossing it to the floor before Daryl helped her out of hers. His lips trailed along the skin of her collarbone and Daryl slowly worked his way up her neck to her cheek while Hannah moved her hands across his skin and lost herself in the feel of finally having him in her arms again. 

Daryl's hands moved along her sides and Hannah moved her hips to help him pull off her jeans and panties, moving to press her lips against his and reach for the buckle of his belt. His pants were off a second later and Hannah leaned up on her elbows to kiss him again before she gently pushed him to lay down on his back. She reached around her back and slowly took off her bra for him, biting her bottom lip when he brought his hands hand up along her sides again and gently tugged on her nipples. Hannah leaned down and kissed along Daryl's jaw and made her way behind his ear, rolling her hips slowly on top of him. 

"I love you, baby." Hannah breathed, taking Daryl's hand in hers and bringing it to kiss his fingertips after she sat up straight on top of him and moved her hips to bury all of him deep inside of her. "I love you more than anything."

Daryl leaned up on his elbow and brought his hand up to hold Hannah's cheek, bringing to back to kiss her deeply and press his forehead to hers. He didn't have to say anything in return for Hannah to know he needed her in this moment. That he needed to hear, after everything he'd been through, that she would always love and protect him no matter what lay in the past. He started to move hips beneath her and Hannah wrapped her arms around him, kissing along his jaw and on to kiss him again. Daryl's voice left him in soft groans from deep in his throat and Hannah moved faster on top of him, losing herself in the feel of his skin against her own. 

The muscles in Hannah's thighs grew hard and tired as she pushed herself closer to her release and leaned forward, bringing Daryl to lay down on his back before he brought his arms to wrap around her waist. He moved her to lay on her back and brought his hands behind her knees, pushing them toward her chest and pumping his hips into hers deeper than he ever had before. 

"Holy sh-" Hannah choked, looking up at him and bringing her hands to hold on top of his. "Oh my god, Dar-"

"You want me to fuck the shit outta you?" Daryl growled, pushing her knees back even further. 

"Mmm, god yes, I need you, baby." She begged, leaning up on her elbow and bringing one of her hands up to hold the back of his neck, never letting her eyes leave his. 

Daryl kissed her hard and Hannah laid back down beneath him, unsure of what he might have in store for her when he straightened himself above her. Daryl grabbed her hips and adjusted her body beneath him before he started to pump hard inside of her, bringing one of his hands between her legs to tease her clit. The sound of their skin making contact filled the stillness around them along with their hungry moans and breaths and Hannah could barely keep up with him, his rhythm faster and harder than she could ever remember with him. 

"Fuck, Daryl-" She breathed as Daryl fucked even harder, heat sweeping over her and goose bumps moving in waves across her skin. Hannah's hot, slick come coated all of him as her release quickly rolled through her and Daryl moaned hard on top of her, grabbing hard for her wrist and pulling her up to get on her knees in front of him.

"I fucking love you, Hannah." Daryl said, his voice hard and deep in his throat as he leaned down to press his chest to her back. He brought his hands to hold at her waist and Hannah looked back over his shoulder at him, biting her lip and arching her back for him before she reached behind her and held her hand on his. Squeezing her eyes shut, Hannah collapsed into the old, soft sheets and moaned hard into them, hardly able to take a breath as Daryl buried himself even deeper inside of her and hit her tender, aching G-spot. 

"Holy shit..." Hannah whimpered, tossing her hair over her shoulder and looking back at him, wanting nothing than to wrap her arms around him before she pulled away from him. "Come here."

Daryl leaned down as Hannah turned to lay on her side, taking his arm in her hand and bringing him to lay down in front of her. She lifted her leg for him and Daryl quickly filled her again, holding his hand on the under side of her thigh to let her wrap her leg around his hip. Hannah held one of her hands on his cheek and brought the other to hold at the smooth skin along his ribs, loving the feel of his whole body pressed against her own. Daryl pressed his lips to hers and Hannah moaned into the taste of him, lost and taken with the ecstasy he was quickly working her into. 

"I'm so close." She breathed as her delicious, slick fluid gushed out of her and coated their thighs. "Come on, baby, make me come." 

Daryl kissed her even harder and moved his hips to bury himself even deeper, pumping hard into hers even faster and running his hand smoothly down to press into her clit. Waves of bliss coursed through every fiber of Hannah's body and she pulled him tighter against her, her thoughts leaving her along with the breathy moans laced with need and lust. 

"Come for me, Daryl." Hannah begged, sweeping Daryl's sweat damp hair out of his face. The sounds of his voice escaping from his throat were like a drug that Hannah couldn't get enough of and even as weak as she felt, she forced herself to use every ounce of strength she could muster and tightened herself around him. He leaned forward for her to lay on her back and planted his arms on either side of her as he kept moving, the volume of his desperate moans growing with each hard thrust until he squeezed hard on Hannah's thigh and pulled out of her. Hannah rushed to pick herself up as Daryl fell back and immediately wrapped her lips around him, teasing and stroking along all of his delicious cock until he could no longer stand it, his muscles hard and taught beneath her fingertips. She watched him try to catch his breath and swallowed every drop of his release that she could before she slowly kissed her way up his body until she finally pressed her lips against his for a long, deep kiss. 

Hannah sat up straight on top of him and let her hands rest of his chest, still catching her breath and reeling from ecstasy when Daryl sat up with her. Moonlight filtered in through the curtains on either side of the bed and cast the open room in a soft, dark blue hue and Hannah sat there with her arms wrapped loosely around Daryl's shoulders, wondering if he was truly okay or not. A piece of her wanted to give him time to cope. Heaven knew they all needed it, and he was certainly no exception after whatever Negan had put him through and done to him. But another part of her needed to know how he was. To know that his insistence on wanting to move forward and fight wasn't just a distraction for him to avoid dealing with what he'd been through. 

"I love you, girl." Daryl said softly, his hands holding warmly on her ass. Tears burned behind Hannah's eyes and quickly fell silently down her cheeks before she leaned in and hugged him tight. Weak and relieved to have him with her after so much uncertainty, she fell apart in his arms and cried for a million different reasons. After losing so many people, after losing so much control, and after losing so much of the strength she'd thought their group had gained, she cried to finally feel like something was finally working in their favor. That even this small victory was at least a step in the right direction. A step she could take with the man who had saved her from the world around her. Who had saved her from herself and taught her how to love. And most importantly, how to be loved back. 

"I love you." She whispered, kissing just behind his ear and gently pressing her forehead to his temple. "I don't know how much longer I would have made it without you..." 

"Hannah-"

"No, Daryl, I really don't. You are... everything to me. And the fact that I couldn't stop Negan from taking you. I couldn't stop him from hurting you?... I couldn't do anything to help you and I was lost. I couldn't eat... I couldn't sleep. Because I knew he wasn't giving you those things." Hannah cried, holding one of her hands at the back of his head and bringing the other to rest along his ribs. "I couldn't protect you like I promised I would."

"Stop."

"I'm so sorry, Dar-"

"Stop it." 

Daryl hugged her tighter and tucked his face into the curve of her neck, his hot tears slipping down his cheeks onto her neck. 

"But most importantly, I couldn't be there to hold you. To tell you I loved you. Or that none of us blamed you for what happened. I couldn't lay with you in bed until we stopped crying over the family we've lost. I just wanted to be with you... because I know you take all of that... And you hold it on your shoulders for all of us and you shouldn't."

Hannah lifted his face to hers and held her forehead gently against his, kissing at the tears falling silently from his eyes and hugging her arms tighter around him. Daryl stayed quiet and moved his hands lightly up along Hannah's spine before he leaned back to lay down with her. Hannah moved to one side of him and pulled the blankets over their bodies before she curled into his body and let her head rest on his chest. She held her hand on his stomach and slowly moved her fingers along his skin while Daryl slowly fell asleep, thankful to finally be holding him. To finally feel like the world was making some sense again.


	43. Chapter 43

Hannah's eyes blinked open as the morning sun came in through the curtains across the room and she slowly leaned up on her elbow, rubbing the sleep from her eye. She looked behind her to see Daryl still sound asleep on his stomach, hugging his pillow beneath his head and moved up close behind him. His skin was smooth against her own and Hannah slowly relaxed into him, closing her eyes and wishing this moment would never end. 

Daryl stirred slightly beneath her a moment later and turned to face her with his eyes still closed. His hand found her waist and pulled her closer to him so that he could bury his face in the curve of her neck and breathed in the natural scent of her hair. He pressed his lips just behind her ear and Hannah leaned back to look at him, sweeping his hair out of his face. 

"Good morning." She said softly, holding her forehead against his. 

"Hi." Daryl returned, his voice deep and sleepy. 

"You sleep okay?"

"Dead to the world." 

"Good." Hannah said with a small smile. "You know, this is the first time we've really had a place to ourselves since... we met." 

"I ain't totally mad about it, neither." He said gently, moving his hand down from her waist to her hip to lift her leg up. Hannah gave him a breathy laugh and reached between them, taking all of his hard cock in her hand and slowly stroking him before he moved in closer. He pressed his tip into her entrance and slowly filled her, a deep exhale from him like music to Hannah's ears. 

"Well, let's take advantage of that, then." Hannah breathed with a smile just before Daryl kissed her. His lips were soft and delicious against her own and he slipped his tongue between them, tasting every part of her that he could as he started to move his hips into hers. 

"Fuck, yes." He moaned, bringing his fingers to press into her clit. 

Hannah kissed him even harder and wrapped her arms around him tight, messing her fingers through his hair and moaning into his kiss. Daryl leaned forward for Hannah to lay on her back and she opened up her legs for him, giving him more of herself to thrust deep and hard inside of her. He moved one of his hands up to her breast and teased her nipple, his hips moved in a delicious rhythm and sending waves of heat rushing through Hannah's body. Hannah's moans escaped from deep in her throat and she held her hands tight on either side of his waist, never letting her eyes leave his and biting her lip at the sight of him starting to sweat the more he pumped inside of her. 

"God, I missed you." Hannah said softly, her voice begging him to to keep going. 

"You have no idea." He returned, leaning in and kissing along her collarbone. 

Hannah moved one of her hands down to give Daryl's ass a playful squeeze and the other to hold the curve of his neck before she kissed him, tugging on his bottom lip when she pulled away and moaned hard into his ear. 

"C'mon, get up." Daryl breathed, straightening himself up and backing away from her. 

Hannah picked herself up in front of him and Daryl wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing his lips down to kiss across her shoulder as he slowly laid down and pulled her on top of him. She sat up on top of him and rolled her hips, breathing heavily into the feel of her clit rubbing against his skin and his hands moving up along her sides to hold both of her breasts and tease her nipples. 

"Shit, baby, I love it when you do that." She moaned, moving her hands up and down his lean forearms.

Soft moans escaped from Daryl's throat and he moved his legs up behind her before he started to pump his hips beneath her, bouncing her in his lap and burying himself deep inside of her. Hannah leaned down and tossed her hair over her shoulder, kissing across Daryl's chest as she lost her ability to control the volume of her voice. Daryl leaned up and wrapped his lips around her nipple, throwing her senses into overdrive and waves of goose bumps across her skin. 

"Fuck! Daryl!" Hannah called out, squeezing her eyes shut and wrapping her arms around Daryl's neck. "Oh my go-"

"I feel that shit, baby, come on." Daryl begged, his voice deep and gritty and all Hannah needed before she collapsed into his body and came hard on top of him. 

Her delicious come gushed from Hannah's entrance and coated their skin as Daryl fucked even harder beneath her, bringing one of his hands between them to press into her clit and nearly make her eyes roll back. Hannah's voice was stolen from her the faster and harder Daryl moved inside of her and she struggled to draw in air as the waves of her release swept through every fiber of her body. Daryl thrust hard and deep and held his hands tight to Hannah's waist as she struggled to breath and make any sound, weak and spent on top of him until he quickly pulled out of her and tossed her on her back. 

"Give me your fuckin' mouth, babe." He said in a breathy moan as he quickly got up on his knees and moved to loom over her shoulder. Hannah opened her mouth for him and Daryl immediately filled her mouth, burying his slick, hard cock as deep as he could. Hannah's gag reflex vibrated softly on his tip and he tossed his head back while she moaned into him, moving her hand along him before she broke away to catch her breath. 

"Come on, Daryl give me all of it." She begged, holding her other hand on his stomach and slowly running it down to massage the sensitive patch of skin between his legs. 

"SHIT, HANNAH! HERE I CO-" Daryl hissed just before the taste of his hot, delicious come coated her tongue and the insides of her cheeks. Hannah wrapped her lips around him again and slowly moved along him, the soft sounds of her voice driving him wild before she swallowed every drop of his orgasm she could. Daryl backed away from her and leaned in close to kiss her, his skin glistening with sweat and his chest heaving as he caught his breath. 

"Jesus, Hannah." Daryl breathed, collapsing back onto the bed next her and bringing his hand to rest underneath the back of his head. 

"I told you I missed you." She teased, rolling over onto her stomach and resting her chin on his chest.

"Missed a lot 'a things." He said softly, taking her hand in his and giving her a warm squeeze. 

"I'm so sorry, Daryl." Hannah whispered, her heart breaking as she looked into the hurt and broken blue of his eyes. "I wish I could change what's happened."

Daryl remained silent for a long, still moment. The look on his face was one that only tore her into even smaller pieces as he tried to hide the defeat and sadness sitting just below the surface. Hannah watched him carefully with tears standing in thick droplets in her eyes before she reached up to brush his hair out of his face again and hold her hand warmly on his cheek. 

"I wish so much that I could make this easier for you." 

Another long moment passed them by as they laid there in silence together, Hannah resting her cheek on his chest again to listen to the softness of his heartbeat. 

"You do make it easier." He finally said, his voice soft and quiet. "More'n you know."   
Hannah gave him a small smile and leaned up to kiss him, savoring the taste of his lips pressed against hers before she broke away from him and moved to stand up at the side of the bed. 

"Come on. If we're gonna win this thing, we need supplies and guns... So let's go find some." She said with purpose, pulling up her jeans and watching him come up to where she stood and pull her back into his arms to sit on his lap. 

"Dunno what I did to deserve you." Daryl said, moving his hand gently up her back and bringing goose bumps to her skin. Hannah gave him an easy smile and hugged him tight before she kissed him, their noses almost touching when she broke from him. 

"You were you." Hannah said gently, holding his cheek before she stood back up and looked around for her bra. Daryl leaned back and stretched to reach over the far side of the bed, sitting back up a second later with her bra in hand as he stood up and handed it to her. Hannah gave him a coy smile and took it from him, blushing as he watched her get dressed. 

"Does that piece 'a shit Dwight still have your vest?" She asked, handing Daryl his shirt. 

"Mhm." 

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna find him..."

"Hannah, don't. We gotta focus." 

"I know. But he doesn't deserve that thing. Not like you do... not to mention you're way hotter than he is. 

"Stop." He blushed, pulling up his jeans and shrugging into his shirt. 

"Nope." Hannah smiled, walking up behind him and holding her arms around his waist. "I'm serious." She continued, moving her hands up and down his stomach and chest while she kissed his shoulder. "So handsome... and strong, and sexy..."

"Stop." Daryl said again, his skin hot beneath her fingertips. Hannah could see him fight a smile and she squeezed him tight again, loving that she had the ability to make him blush so easily. 

"It's cute when you blush like that." 

"To you maybe." He griped, buckling his belt. Hannah let go and gave his side a playful pinch and walked over to the kitchen sink to busy herself with cleaning the dishes they'd used the previous night. Daryl walked up next to her and helped her finish cleaning up before turning his attention to the venison he'd put in the oven the previous night, pulling each piece out of the oven to make sure they were properly dried. 

"How's it look?" Hannah asked, jumping up to sit on the counter next to the stove. 

"We'll be eatin' good for a while." 

"Good."

Hannah handed him an empty jar from across the counter before she hopped down off of counter and grabbed the backpack she'd gotten from the car the day before and walked over to the tall wooden gun cabinet, looking for a way to open it without a key. 

"You see any bolt cutters or anything anywhere?" She asked, turning to look at Daryl while he packed up the remaining food and opened up a couple of drawers, coming up empty handed. "Maybe try under the sink? Maybe there's a toolbox?" 

"Here." Daryl said a moment later, walking up and nudging her out of the way with a screwdriver in hand. He twisted and turn it for a few moments until the screws finally came loose and dropped to the floor, the cabinet door falling off and revealing six more hunting rifles and a handful of pistols. 

"That's a good sign." Hannah said, her eyes wide and a smile pulling at her lips as she shrugged the backpack off of her shoulders and filled it with the new guns and the four boxes of bullets stashed in the bottom. She turned around to look over at a sliding closet door across the room and Daryl did the same before he got up and opened it's doors, finding another backpack and a duffle bag shoved in the corner before he returned to the kitchen and loaded them with the food from the cabinets. Daryl stood up and heaved the bag on his shoulders and met Hannah at the door to look back at the cabin that she hoped they could come back to before he turned and opened the door. The two of them walked outside and into the bright morning sun, the air already hot and heavy with humidity as they covered the door with some old, thick branches before they left and headed into the woods. 

The leaves and twigs on the ground snapped and rustled underneath their footsteps as Hannah and Daryl made their way north, helping one another climb up the small rocky hills and fallen trees of the woods. The terrain was quiet and still with the exception of the two of them traveling together like Hannah knew it was meant to be, a tall chain link fence finally coming into view after what must have been hours of hiking. A ragged grey tarp hung loosely from some of the broken lines of barbed wire and Hannah stepped carefully up to it, slipping her knife out of it's sheath before she rapped it's handle on the thick metal support pole. Daryl walked up to stand just inches away from her and they both listened carefully for any sign of movement, leaning toward the chain link to peer into the decrepit parking lot ahead. 

Hannah looked back at Daryl and he gave her a gentle nod as he knelt down on his knee and held his hands out and clasped together, hoisting her up to help her over the fence before climbing up himself. He landed on his feet and Hannah pulled her gun from the pocket of her jacket as they ran up to the side of a tall, industrial building that looked like it could have been a warehouse, keeping themselves tucked closely to the wall while they made their way up to the corner and looked out at the group of walkers standing along the opposite side of the fence, yearning for a meal they wouldn't have a chance to get. 

"How many you think there are?" Hannah whispered, looking up at Daryl and back out at the fence. 

"Hm. Couple dozen. Maybe a few more." 

"That's nothing." She said with a cocky smile, tightening her grip on the handle of her knife. 

"Looks like the door inside's only a few yards up. We may not even hafta bother with 'em." 

"Well that's not exciting." 

"Yeah, it also won't get us eaten." 

Hannah gave his side a playful pinch and turned to look behind them, biting her lip as she wondered to herself if there might be a back door to get into to avoid the chance of the walkers seeing them in the first place. 

"Building like this should have a back door, right?"

"Worth a look." 

The two of them turned around and rounded the corner to the back of the metal building, walking around the dumpsters until they finally found a door. Daryl handed Hannah his gun and pulled out his knife, carefully sliding the blade into the thin space between the frame and the door until he finally worked it open.

"There ain't a flashlight in there is there?" He asked, standing and holding the door open with his foot as he strained to look inside. 

"I didn't see one, no." 

"Fuck. It's dark as hell in there." 

Hannah took a step back and looked from one end of the building to the other at the windows that dotted along the pleated metal wall, each of them darkened by what looked like cardboard duct taped to the inside. 

"Whoever started out here boarded up the windows with cardboard, take it down and we'll at least have a little bit more light."

Daryl nodded and gave her ass a slap as Hannah stepped in and she swatted his hand away, slowly moving forward one step at a time. 

"This ain't gonna work, I can't see shit to even get to a window."

"We could light something on fire... I grabbed your lighter before I left Alexandria." 

"Hand be that branch stickin' inside the door." 

Hannah did as he asked and Daryl set it down at their feet when he stepped up toward the doorway and held up his arm to unroll his sleeve. Catching on to what he was doing, Hannah carefully cut at the seam at his shoulder and did the same thing with the other, tying the two of them together and wrapping them around the top of the branch before she handed Daryl's lighter to him. The fabric caught fire and the small room they were standing in grew brighter, giving them plenty of light to walk slowly into a hallway. 

"I feel like we're in an Indiana Jones movie or something with this torch." Hannah joked with a quiet whisper, holding their makeshift torch in hand as they continued into a wide open warehouse.

"This whole fuckin' world feels like a damn movie... ain't the kind that's got a decent ending, neither."

"You don't know tha-." Hannah griped before she was cut off when they stopped in unison and looked at the open space around them. "Holy shit." She said, breathless with disbelief. 

"How the hell's a place like this not get ransacked?" He asked, stepping up to the shelf closest to them and pulling at the cellophane wrapped tight around a pallet of canned chicken noodle soup. 

"People are idiots." Hannah said with a smile, reaching for his hand and giving him a warm squeeze. "You think there's enough charge on one of those forklifts to use it?"

"Probably not. We can try, though." 

Daryl took the torch from Hannah's hand and held it high along the wall, looking up to see a covered window with a thin line of light coming out of the bottom. He turned to look down the long aisle and walked over to a large metal set of stairs on wheels and pulled it back toward the window before he climbed to the top and ripped the cardboard from the window to illuminate the large space with bright, white light. Hannah waited at the bottom of the stairs and watched him turn to come back down before he froze where he stood, watching intently off into the farther recesses of the room that she couldn't see. 

"Shit, Hannah, we got company." He whispered, moving down the stairs.

"Wha-" The sound of a raspy groan suddenly came from directly behind Hannah and cut off her words, a pair of cold, boney hands grabbing for her neck and shoulder before she wheeled around and shoved the walker back. Knife firmly in hand, Hannah plunged her blade into it's skull and strained to look around the corner a handful of yards ahead of her. Another group of them were quickly making their way closer and Daryl came up behind her on the bottom step of the stairs and shoved her behind himself just as the sound of even more grew louder behind them. 

"Get up there!" He shouted, following her up to stand at the platform at the top and watching as the room around them started to come into focus, walkers crawling into view from around the corners of the shelves. 

"I didn't hear a thing when we walked in here." Hannah said, her eyes wide and still trying to adjust to the stark contrast of light and dark. 

"Me neither. If I'd 'a heard anything, I'd've looked for another way to do this."

Hannah took a deep, uneasy breath and looked at the terrifying and daunting situation surrounding them and couldn't help but choke on a wave of fear, unsure if they were prepared at all to take on this many walkers at once on their own. They had two guns, limited bullets and two knives against what looked like dozens on dozens of walkers now packed around the only thing saving them and their only option to get out was to fight. She looked over at Daryl and wrapped her arms around him to breath in his presence, willing herself to calm the deep pit of fear in her stomach and get herself together. 

"Backs together, you stay close. We'll start with the ones right here and work our way that way." Daryl explained, holding his hand on Hannah's shoulder and pointing toward the far corner ahead of them with the other. 

"Alright, let's go." Hannah said, nodding her head and taking another deep breath to brace herself.

Before they could second guess themselves, Daryl and Hannah both moved down a few steps toward the growing crowd of walkers and Hannah grabbed for the hand rail, carefully lowering herself underneath it to hang over the walkers' heads. The blade of her knife stabbed into the skulls of countless dead things, their bodies falling into a heap below them that grew with striking speed the more and more that the two of them killed. With each lifeless body on the floor, Hannah had a harder time reaching before Daryl's arms grabbed her waist and pulled her back, both of them already tired and nearly out of breath. 

"We're gonna have to climb down to get the rest." Hannah said, looking at her forearms covered in old, decaying blood. 

"You need a minute or are you ready?" He asked, watching her carefully. 

"I'm good. Are you?"

"Good, yeah."

"Let's get this over with." Hannah said purposefully, leaning in to press her forehead to his and standing up. 

Daryl stood up with her and the two of them carefully stepped down off of the metal stairs to climb over the heap of dead bodies, braced with their arms up and knives ready to fight as many walkers as they had to to clear the place out. Shoulder to shoulder, Hannah and Daryl both fought with striking speed as corpse after corpse came at them, pushing toward the far corner when the last walker fell the to ground. Hannah stood up to look around just another small handful of walkers came around another corner ahead of them and she immediately jumped over the bodies beneath her, sinking the blade of her knife into each of them and finally stepping back to lean against the wall when no other animated bodies came into view. 

"Jesus fucking Christ." She said, out of breath. Her muscles ached and her heart pounded in her chest as adrenaline continued to course through her veins, her eyes and ears attuned to the dim light of the warehouse and the still silence now surrounding them. She turned to look at the bodies of the countless walkers they'd just fought and couldn't help but stand in awe of what they'd been capable of, hoping with everything she had that they wouldn't have to do anything like this on their own again. "I don't know about yo-"

Hannah couldn't even get a full sentence out before Daryl rushed up to her and pressed his lips hard to hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth to taste every part of her like it was their first kiss all over again. Hannah wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, the world around them seeming to fade away as the two of them lost themselves in the other. Breaking away from him, Hannah looked up at him and gave him an easy smile, too proud of what they could do together to even put it into words. 

"You're too badass for your own good, you know that?" He said, his voice gritty and irresistible. 

"I could say the same thing." Hannah returned with a smile, kissing his cheek and pulling herself from his arms to turn and look at the warehouse shelves around them, one of them in particular catching her attention over the others. "Holy shit, do you see that?" She asked, pointing at another cellophane wrapped pallet of boxes. The boxes on this pallet were different than the others, these were smaller and their labels were simpler, the plain black text lacking any real creative touch. But most importantly, the boxes on this pallet were full of the very thing they would need in order to fight and stand a chance. 

"You know what this means?" Hannah said simply, walking up to the tall pallet of boxes and running her hand across the smooth, tightly wrapped cellophane. Daryl walked up to stand next to her and took a look at the unbelievable sight before them, pulling one of the boxes out and opening it to look at the shining bullets inside. 

"Means we can win this thing." 

"I've always had trouble believing in a God, but if anything could be considered a sign from one, this would be it." Hannah said softly, picking up one of the bullets and turning it between her fingers. 

"Alright, well. Let's clean this place up a bit. Maybe stay the night? Surely there's SOMETHING we can sleep on."

"Don't wanna go back to the cabin?" 

"Maybe it's best we keep moving for the time being. Plus, I don't wanna risk someone finding all this stuff."

"That bed was nice."

"I know... there's just too much stuff here to just leave it." 

Daryl shook his head in agreement and Hannah took a step out to the large open aisle ahead and looked in either direction for anything to use to cart the walkers out of the building. Nothing in sight, Hannah turned toward the opposite direction they'd come in and looked carefully around the old, dusty warehouse, her eyes finally falling on what might have been a laundry cart at one point, it's tall white sides plastered with the word "INBOUND". She pulled it back to where Daryl was browsing along the shelves, looking closely at the pallets of miscellaneous foods they would someday get back to Alexandria. 

"This should do the job." Hannah said, shrugging her shoulders and leaning on the sides of the cart when Daryl turned to look at her. 

"There any more 'a those? It's gonna take a while to get all these assholes outta here with just one." 

"No. I don't think so." She answered before they moved toward the bodies ahead and started the long process of getting them back outside. 

The late afternoon passed by slowly as Daryl and Hannah worked together to clean up the large dark building, the sunlight waning and casting the warehouse in a dark blue haze just as they wheeled the last of the bodies out the back door. They abandoned the cart in a small storage room in the back of the building and found an old chain to lock the door up tight, both of them letting out slow sighs of relief before they walked back up to the main warehouse and looked out at the place they would call home for however long it would take to secure everything inside. 

"We can take care of outside tomorrow. Too fuckin' tired to worry about it now." Daryl said, turning his head from side to side to pop his neck.

"You won't hear me complain." Hannah returned with a weak smile. She stretched her arms up to ease the exhaustion from her sore muscles and leaned against Daryl's shoulder, letting her head rest on his arm and bringing arm to hold along his back. "I think this might've been a Red Cross or a military drop off or something. There's not just food here."

"There's blankets all rolled up over there." Daryl said, pointed at another cellophane wrapped pallet and the blurred edges of color spun around inside. "That oughta make a decent bed." 

"Good. We both could use it."


	44. Chapter 44

"This is awesome." Hannah said with her mouth full as she chewed on the venison jerky Daryl had made the night before. 

Daryl looked over at her from where he sat just in front of her on the thick stack of blankets they'd turned into a makeshift mattress, nodding at her compliment as a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He chewed on the jerky he'd made and Hannah reached forward and held her hand on his leg, still reeling at the feeling of having him back again. They'd done so many incredible things together and had become a formidable, nearly unstoppable team and Hannah couldn't be any more proud of what they were capable of. Especially as they sat together over a dinner of venison jerky and a couple of cans of cold chicken noodle soup in the giant warehouse they'd found full of everything they knew they needed to win the daunting fight that their group had waged on Negan and his men. 

"I'm sorry we had to leave our group." She added quietly, looking up at him in the soft glow of the lantern they'd found. "But I'm not sorry after what we did here... our group needs this." 

Hannah watched him carefully before she moved to sit closer to him, bringing her other hand to hold his muscular forearm, wondering what was going on in his head, wishing it were easier after all this time for him to be truly comfortable with telling her what he was feeling. 

"But... most importantly..." Hannah started, looking down into her lap and squeezing her eyes shut before bringing her hand up to wipe her eyes. "I'm not sorry for protecting you."

"I ain't mad at you." Daryl said softly, fidgeting with his hands in his lap. "I never was... I'm just ready to kill that som'bitch." 

"We will." She said simply, looking up at him and feeling the hurt and rage stirring in a rancid mess inside of him. "One way or another."

Daryl leaned forward and kissed Hannah's cheek before she slowly picked herself up to climb into his lap and wrapped her arms around him while the world around them dissipated. Her skin was smooth and hot to his touch and Daryl's voice left him in a low, lustful groan when he brought his hands up underneath her shirt and pulled it over her head to abandon it on the floor. He swept her hair out of her face and kissed her once again, his lips soft and delicious against hers before Hannah reached back to take off her bra, Daryl's hands helping her with the tiny hooks and moving up to hold her breasts and tease her nipples. Hannah broke away from his kiss and moved her lips across his cheek while she grabbed for the buttons of his shirt, undoing each one before she sat back and moved her hands down along his chest. 

"You were so fuckin' hot today." Daryl breathed, pressing his forehead to hers and undoing the button on her jeans. 

"Just today?"

"Fuck you. You know what I meant." He teased as Hannah smiled back, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders before leaning into his body for him to lay down beneath her. 

"Mm. That's right. Fuck me." She said smoothly as she sat up straight on top of him and ran her hands smoothly down his chest, biting her bottom lip at the sight of him before she slowly unbuttoned his jeans. 

Hannah leaned down to kiss her way down his chest while Daryl's breath left him in quick, shaky exhales, his skin hot with his need for her. She helped him pull off his jeans and pushed them away and wrapped her lips around him, her voice coming out of her in a soft, smooth moan at the delicious taste of his cock in her mouth. Daryl brought his arm up to lay his head on his hand and held his other hand on Hannah's arm, giving her a warm squeeze as she moved and sucked all along him. She kissed along his hip and never let her eyes leave his while she gently squeezed his balls and moved down to tease his tip with her tongue. 

"Shit, that feels good." Daryl breathed, reaching down to take a handful of Hannah's hair and pulling her face closer to him. Her gag reflex teased him mercilessly before Hannah quickly pulled away from him, hardly able to control her need for him anymore as she stood up and turned around in front of him. Daryl reached for the top of her jeans and pulled them down for her, kissing at the back of her thigh as she turned back to face him. Hannah smiled down at him and messed her fingers through his hair as his hands moved smoothly up her legs, throwing goose bumps across her skin in waves as his fingers explored the tingling lips of her pussy. 

"You want me to ride you?" Hannah teased, swaying her hips slowly in front of him and never letting her eyes leave his. Daryl gave her ass playful slap and squeezed her cheek before he laid down in front of her and held his hands up for her to hold while she slowly lowered herself down to bury him deep inside of her. He brought his hands to hold on her bent knees and Hannah did the same before she started to move, her need for him nearly blinding her as she bounced herself on top of him.

"You've got the best little pussy of 'em all..." Daryl said softly from between his teeth, his hands running along the inside of her thighs before his thumb pressed into her clit. Hannah leaned back and held her hands firmly on Daryl's bare thighs while her voice left her light moans laced with need the more he teased her. She tightened herself around him and Daryl grabbed hard for one of her arms to pull her back toward him and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the warm skin of Hannah's chest and turned them over so that she could lie on her back, his voice leaving him in deep, heavy groans when he leaned down over her and pressed his forehead to hers. 

Hannah brought her hands to both sides of his chest and wrapped her arms around to hold onto his shoulders, her lips quickly finding Daryl's so that she could slip her tongue between them and taste his delicious kiss. His body moved in smooth, fluid movements with hers as the both of them lost all sense of time and place, leaving the world around them to focus solely on each other and the fierce, wholehearted kind of love they never knew they could find. Hannah slowly moved one of her hands to sweep Daryl's sweat damp hair out of his face, losing herself in the swift waves of ecstasy as they swept through every piece of her. But just as the bliss of her orgasm came to it's earth shattering climax, Daryl slowed himself to a stop and dropped his head to rest his forehead on Hannah's shoulder as she noticed something inside in his demeanor change. 

"I'm sorry..." He said weakly with his face tucked into the curve of her neck. "I'm sorry." 

Soft cries escaped from him and he nearly collapsed on top of her, Hannah straining to kiss his forehead and swallowing away the ball of heart ache lodged in her throat. 

"Daryl..." She said, her voice hardly more than a whisper as she held her forehead to his temple and smoothed her hand along his hair at the back of his head. "Hey..."

"It's my fault." He said weakly, his chest heaving at the weight of guilt on his shoulders. "It was my fault."

"Honey, no it's not." Hannah returned, choking back tears of her own and holding him a little tighter. Her heart sank to see and feel him so broken and Hannah couldn't think of anything to make it any better. 

"Yeah... It is."

"Baby, no..."

"If I'd 'a just left it alone... He'd still be here."

"Daryl... sweetheart, look at me." Hannah said softly, bringing her hand up to hold his cheek and lifting his face to look at him. "Negan was going to do whatever the hell he wanted. I don't think it would have mattered what any of us would have said or done, he wasn't done with us after he killed Abraham." She said, her voice shaking and weak. "No matter what he said or did to you... it's not your fault he's gone. And you didn't-" Hannah choked on her words and tears, struggling to control the painful thought of him trapped in a cold, dark cell, alone and hungry. Beaten and heartbroken. "You didn't deserve any of that."

Too exhausted to hold himself up anymore, Daryl pulled himself from inside of Hannah's pulsing, soaking core and laid down next to her and Hannah leaned up on her elbow. She moved her hand smoothly across his shoulders and sat cross legged just next to him, wishing harder than she ever had that she could do more to ease the overwhelming pain and guilt he put on himself to try and help him carry it.

"How'm I gonna face her?" He said, his voice shaking and quiet. "She ain't ever gonna forgive what I did..." 

"Daryl, honey, don't..." Hannah cried, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him from behind, kissing his shoulder while he shook his head. 

"That baby ain't gonna have a dad 'cause 'a me... I sure as shit couldn't get past that."

"Turn around and look at me." Hannah said softly, moving to lay on her side next to him. "Please." 

Daryl slowly did as she asked and Hannah brushed his hair out of his face, wiping the tears on his cheeks with her thumb and looking into the devastatingly beautiful blue of his eyes. She pulled him close and hugged him tight before she kissed along his jaw, pressing her forehead to his and swallowing hard to keep herself together enough for the both of them. 

"Not a single one of us blames you." She finally said, feeling like it could have been the hundredth time and he still wouldn't believe her. "Glenn loved you. Maggie loves you... Every single one of us loves you. And all of the people we've lost... knew you would have done whatever you could have to protect them. To save them... You are so good to us. You're a GOOD man... So much better than you might believe yourself. And I know that because I see it every time I look at you."

"Maybe I outta be out here..."

"No, Daryl..." Hannah shook her head, silent tears falling down her cheeks. "You belong right here. With the woman who loves you. And you belong with our group. With our family... because we NEED you. Because we LOVE you." 

Daryl stayed silent and tucked his face into the curve of Hannah's neck, his hand holding tight to her waist as if to convince himself she were really there. To convince himself she were real and not a figment of his imagination. Hannah wiped at the tears in her eyes and let Daryl lose himself, wishing there were more she could do or say to show him how precious he was, how valuable he was, and just how much everyone loved and needed him. Especially her. 

"We're going to get up in the morning, secure that lot out front and fix up one of those big trucks outside. And then we keep going." Hannah said purposefully, moving to look at him before she pressed her lips to his. "We go home. And then we'll fight. And we'll win." 

"I still dunno what I did to deserve you." He said softly, bringing his hand to hold her cheek. Hannah moved her hand up to hold his wrist and held the other tighter around his neck underneath his head where he laid on his makeshift pillow. 

"You loved me back." Hannah said weakly, another tear slipping down her cheek before she kissed him again. "Did you come?" She breathed as Daryl picked himself back up and loomed on top of her. 

"No, but I'm about to."

"Good, because I want to taste it."

Hannah opened her legs for him and he quickly filled her again, stretching her walls with every inch of himself and moving his hips into hers. Hannah's voice left her in weak, breathy moans along with Daryl's as he built his speed with each thrust of his hips, holding her hands on either side of his face and keeping her eyes glued to his in the soft light of the lantern. Daryl leaned down closer to kiss along Hannah's collarbone as she reached down and squeezed his ass, a soft giggle escaping from her when he jerked his head up to look at her. 

"Mm, I can't help it." She said smoothly, straining to lean up and kiss him and moving her hands up along both sides of him. 

"Long as I get to do it back." He growled, looping one arms underneath her and flipping the both of them to lay on his back. 

Daryl brought both of his legs up behind her and Hannah leaned down on top of him, in love with the feel of his hands holding on her waist before he leaned up to wrap his lips around one of her nipples. His tongue teased her in luscious twirls and Hannah could hardly stand it, her warm juices flowing out of her as she moved on top of him and brought him closer to his release. 

"Come on, babe, tighten that up a little bit." Daryl begged, bringing his hands to hold both sides of her ass. 

"Mm, like that?" She teased, tightening her walls around him and tossing her hair over her shoulder. 

"Fuck yes." He growled, slapping one side of her ass cheeks and moving even faster beneath her. 

"Oh my god, Daryl-" Hannah choked, arching her back and coming hard on top of him. 

"Jesus, Hannah." Daryl breathed as Hannah collapsed on top of him and moaned into his ear. "Fuck, come on, get up." He groaned, giving her ass another slap and quickly pulling out of her. 

Hannah picked herself up off of him and bent over to wrap her lips around his cock, moaning into the taste of him as she brought her hand up to stroke along with her mouth. Daryl's hand gave the outside of her thigh a squeeze and he pulled her onto her knees on top of him, kissing along her thigh and working his way to the soaking lips of her pussy. He teased her mercilessly until she came hard once again, her voice leaving her in harsh moans deep in her throat as she buried his cock in her mouth, choking and gagging on him. 

"Shit, Hannah-" Daryl choked, breaking away from her and replacing his tongue with his fingers as his muscles grew hard and flexed beneath her. "FUCK!"

Hannah moaned smoothly into the taste of Daryl's come filling her mouth, kissing along all of him while she slowly stroked him and licked up every drop he could give her. Massaging the hard muscles of his thighs, she slowly turned around to face him and crawled into his arms to kiss him deeply. The sweet taste of his lips was enough to make her head spin and Hannah moved her hand up along his stomach and chest to hold his cheek. Daryl turned over onto his elbow on top of her, bringing his other hand to hold on her waist before he broke away from her kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. 

"I got so much to thank you for." He said softly, moving to kiss her cheek and down her neck. 

"Don't." Hannah returned, holding her hand on the curve of his neck and giving him a small smile. "You don't have to."

"I gotta do somethin'..."

"Daryl, you are enough. You don't have to prove anything when we know how valuable you are. You deserve everything we have to give and then some." 

"Yeah, well so do you." Daryl said with the same rough, gritty tone that always drove her crazy. He leaned back in to kiss her and Hannah wrapped her arms around him, loving every second she could touch him and feel him against her body. 

Hannah broke away from him and reached over to turn off the lantern as Daryl pulled a thick handful of blankets over them and brought her body close in front of his. He brought his arm around her waist and nestled his face into her shoulder, kissing along her skin and tangling his legs with hers before she turned her head to kiss him back. 

"I love you, baby." She said softly, holding her hand on top of his still resting warmly on her waist. "Sleep hard and good. We both need it for tomorrow." 

"Love you, too." Daryl returned, holding her a little tighter before she relaxed back into his body and slowly lost herself in dreams of getting back home where they belonged and winning their freedom back.


End file.
